Influencing Product Roadmaps as a Designer

5 actionable tips to start building influence

As designers, you have a unique perspective on the product and are able to identify short-term optimizations as well as new North Star opportunities that others may overlook. Here are some of the ways in which you can influence and contribute to product roadmapping.

Connect the Present to the Future

Designers can align teams towards a common objective by painting a clear picture of the end goal. In the discovery phase, designers can help define the market and craft a story that shapes the product vision and strategy.

Visualize what success looks like in 1-3 years and figure out a work-back plan. This reassures stakeholders on both strategy & execution, and gives them confidence in the value of design.

Identify Cross-Team / Cross-Org Collaborations

Connecting the present state to a future requires acting as a confluence between cross-functional partners. Disciplines from engineering, product and design - should all own the narrative and brainstorm ideas worthy of impacting the roadmap. Designers can also help identify any x-team/x-org collaborations that might be needed to plan for.

Visualize the Roadmap

In the beginning of the half, I come up with high-level directional designs to build a visual roadmap of the work-streams for the next half / year, providing stakeholders with a clear sense of the product's vision. Anyone across the organization can glance at the visual roadmap and get a sense of the product’s vision.

Left to right: Clarify team’s vision/mission, objectives, work-streams against each objective, and high-level designs for each work-stream (image intentionally blurred)

Sizing and Prioritization

Designers can size projects in collaboration with product managers and engineers to define the scope of work required. They can also help with prioritization of impactful features that align with the company's overall objectives and deliver user value at the same time. Here is a product design estimation worksheet to size your design efforts.

To summarize

During the initial stages, designers can help with:

• Craft product vision/mission

• Understand market

• Build visual roadmap of projects (directional designs)

On an ongoing basis, designers can help with:

• Sizing and prioritization

• Facilitating cross-team/cross-org collaborations

• Design reviews to ensure project is on track

And to plan for the future, designers can:

• Build North Star designs

• Shape long term vision and strategy

Hope this was helpful!