Webinar: The Art of Prioritizing Your Product Roadmap by AWS Sr PM - Tech

1. The Art of Prioritizing Your
Product Roadmap
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5. The Art of Prioritizing Your
Product Roadmap
Rakshana Balakrishnan
Sr. Product Manager Tech - AWS

6. Agenda
● Product roadmap objectives
● Frameworks for prioritization (and selecting one)
● Parameter Selection
● Scoring Methodology
● Bring it all together!
● Summary
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
Note:
All opinions/views/recommendations are my own and not affiliated to my current/past employers.

7. Product Roadmap Objectives
Clearly set the business and engineering direction
for your product portfolio: What to invest in, what
order, and why
Objectives
Ensure product alignment with your company’s
annual goals
Intentional, customer-centric and data-driven
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary

8. Frameworks for Roadmap Prioritization
Commonly used frameworks
MoSCoW
RICE
Kano
Value vs. Effort
Opportunity Scoring
And more..
● Keep it simple
● Customizable for your product needs
● Explainable
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary

9. Value vs. Effort Framework
Value
Effort
High
High
Low
Strategic
Product
Investments
High Value
High Effort
Easy Wins
High Value
Low Effort
Keep the
lights on
Low Value
Low Effort
Futile pursuits
Low Value
High Effort
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary

10. Parameter Selection – Value Score
Product
Value
Score
Feature
Value
Score
Value
Score
● Annual revenue
● Customer base
● Churn rate
● Number of customer requests
● Alignment with the
company/organization/product’s
strategic goals
● Technical priority
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
For a product portfolio

11. Parameter Selection – Effort Score
● Time required for discovery,
development and test
phases
● Number of developers
required
● Time required for hardening
phase
● Customer training/onboarding
effort required
● Time required for product support
Dev Effort
Score
Launch
Effort
Score
Effort
Score
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
For a product portfolio

12. Scoring Methodology – Value Score
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
[Sample] Range
(in USD)
<= 1M 1M < x <= 50M 50M < x <= 200M 200M < x <= 400M > 400M
Score 1 5 10 15 20
V1) Product Value Score
Annual Revenue
Customer Base
Churn Rate
[Sample] Range
(num)
<= 1K 1K < x <= 25K 25K < x <= 75K 75K < x <= 100K > 100K
Score 1 5 10 15 20
[Sample] Range
(%)
> 60% 40% < x <= 60% 20% < x <= 40% 10% < x <= 20% <= 10%
Score 1 5 10 15 20
These are sample ranges for illustration
purposes. Customize the range to suit
your product and business needs

13. Scoring Methodology – Value Score
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
[Sample] Range
(num of requests)
<= 50 50 < x <= 250 250 < x <= 500 500 < x <= 1K > 1K
Score 1 5 10 15 20
V2) Feature Value Score
Number of customer requests
Alignment with the company/org/product’s strategic goals
Technical Priority
[Sample] Range No
alignment
Aligns with 1 goal Aligns with 2 goals Aligns with 3 goals Aligns with 4+
goals
Score 1 5 10 15 20
[Sample] Range Not a
technical
priority
Reduce other
technical debt
New technology Scaling improvements Security need or
disruption to
user workflow
Score 1 5 10 15 20
These are sample ranges for illustration
purposes. Customize the range to suit
your product and business needs

14. Scoring Methodology – Effort Score
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
[Sample] Range
(in months)
<= 2 mths 2 mths < x <= 5
mths
5 mths < x <= 8 mths 8 mths < x <= 10 mths > 10 mths
Score 1 5 10 15 20
E1) Dev Effort Score
Time required for discovery, development, and test phases
Number of developers required
[Sample] Range 1 SWE 2 SWEs <= x <= 6
SWEs
7 SWEs <= x <= 10
SWEs
11 SWEs <= x <= 14
SWEs
>= 15
Score 1 5 10 15 20
SWE = software engineers
These are sample ranges for illustration
purposes. Customize the range to suit
your product and business needs

15. Scoring Methodology – Effort Score
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
E2) Launch Effort Score
[Sample] Range
(in months)
<= 1 mth 1 mth < x <= 1.5
mths
1.5 mths < x <= 2
mths
2 mths < x <= 3 mths > 3 mths
Score 1 5 10 15 20
Time required for hardening phase
Customer training/onboarding effort required
Time required for product support
[Sample] Range <= 2 wks 2 wks < x <= 1 mth 1 mth < x <= 1.5 mths 1.5 mths < x <= 2 mths > 2 mths
Score 1 5 10 15 20
[Sample] Range <= 2 wks 2 wks < x <= 1 mth 1 mth < x <= 1.5 mths 1.5 mths < x <= 2 mths > 2 mths
Score 1 5 10 15 20
These are sample ranges for illustration
purposes. Customize the range to suit
your product and business needs

16. Score, score, score!
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary

17. Bring it all together! (Product Portfolio)
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
Value
Effort
High
High
Low
Strategic Product Investments
Easy Wins
Keep the lights on Futile pursuits
Product 3
Product 7
Product 5
Product 4
Product 1
Product 6
Product 2
Value vs. Effort Mapping – Product Portfolio

18. Adapt the methodology for a single product (1/2)
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
For a single product
Value Score Effort Score

19. Adapt the methodology for a single product (2/2)
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
Value
Effort
High
High
Low
Strategic Product Investments
Easy Wins
Keep the lights on Futile pursuits
Feature 3
Feature 8
Feature 7
Feature 10
Feature 4
Feature 5
Feature 9
Value vs. Effort Mapping – Single Product
Feature 2
Feature 1
Feature 6

20. Summary
Agenda > Roadmap Objectives > Frameworks > Parameter Selection > Scoring Methodology > Bring it all together > Summary
Product roadmap prioritization is essential for PMs to set a clear product direction that is
intentional, customer-centric and data-driven
Select a framework and build your scoring methodology that best suits your business and
product needs. The Value vs. Effort framework is well-suited for customization
Organize your product roadmap investments for the year in the order of ‘Strategic Product
Investments’ (time and effort allocation: 50%), ‘Easy Wins’ (time and effort allocation: 40%),
and ‘Keep the Lights on’ (time and effort allocation: 10%)

21. Thank you!
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linkedin.com/in/rakshanabalakrishnan/
For any questions, reach out to me:
Start scoring and build a
compelling product
roadmap!

22. The Art of Prioritizing Your Product
Roadmap
productschool.com