What is a roadmap slide?
A roadmap slide is used to illustrate the timeline for when you will deliver product features. They are typically used to answer the question “what will your product look like in the future?”.
Roadmap slides can have different levels of detail. Some roadmap slides group features into high-level phases (e.g., now/soon/later or now/within 1 year/after 1 year), whereas others will put specific release dates on product features.
Best practices and key characteristics
Roadmap slides are often very important slides, so ensure that they are clear and compelling with the following:
- Select the level of detail based on the audience: The level of detail that your audience needs should guide whether you communicate specific release dates or group features into time-period “buckets”. Also remember, the more detail you give your audience, the less they will expect the information to change.
- Communicate outcomes: Instead of only talking about features or functionality, communicate the outcomes that those features will drive. For example, instead of “accounts receivable automation”, you could say “automatically flag when an invoice has been paid”.
- Group features into themes: Make your roadmap easier to understand by grouping similar features into themes or categories (e.g. with the same color or icon).
- Show where you are today: Don’t forget to put your roadmap in context by clearly showing where you are today; in other words, what has been done and what is still left to do.
Download a free roadmap slide and 29 other slide templates for free
Roadmap slides, recommendations slides, journey slides, key takeaways slides, next steps slides, panel slides, and more!
Example roadmap slides
Let’s take a look at a range of example roadmap slides from both consulting firms and other sources.
