The Now/Next/Later approach to road mapping.
We are big fans of changing up your roadmap - let's go over why.
I recently read a post from Janna Bastow titled, “8 Steps to Convert Your Timeline Roadmap to a Now-Next-Later.” The post gives some great ideas about how to
So why do we at Product Party love the Now/Next/Later (NNL) approach to road mapping so much?
Let’s dig in and talk about the most significant wins that come along with it.
A push to establish the true product vision
Although each of us has a wide variety of product department setups within our companies, there’s something each of us should strive for with our products that helps you communicate the product value proposition - a product vision.
ProdPad says, “When done well, your product vision ensures that your goals are clear and allows you to set clear objectives for your team.”
So, what’s the connection between product vision and NNL road maps?
A strong product vision is crucial for the NNL roadmap because it is the guiding star for all roadmap activities. It ensures that every initiative—whether being worked on now, planned for next, or considered for later—aligns with the product's overarching goals and direction.
This alignment helps prioritize efforts that drive the product forward meaningfully, keeping the team focused on achieving long-term success rather than just short-term outputs.
If you believe the NNL format will benefit you, this really emphasizes the importance of establishing this product vision.
An easier way to show how “ready to be built” features are
You may never be able to eliminate some variation of time-based road maps, but switching to the NNL format can still relay to stakeholders an understanding of priority, coupled with an understanding of how much additional work might be needed before you’re comfortable saying that the work is ready to be built.
I’ve seen two ways of connecting these dots - one displayed through the following image. Focus on the Workflow State column specifically:
I like how it goes from being ready to build to identifying an opportunity to refine the problem further.
The other version of this is around tying Now/Next/Later similarly to “what we know”, “what we think we know”, and “what we want to find out.”
All of these different variations can help you cement in stakeholders’ minds the connections between where the work is about readiness. They will probably still want to see their favorite features delivered tomorrow…but at least you tried, right?
NNL is incredibly flexible
It’s important to understand that the biggest win of making this transition is the flexibility you gain when showing off your product's future and how it will help your customers.
This approach allows teams to adapt quickly to changes, focus on solving the correct problems at the right time, and ensure that all efforts are aligned with the broader product vision and goals.
It moves away from rigid schedules, enabling more innovation and experimentation, which are crucial for meeting customer needs and achieving long-term success.
Can you still apply timelines to the work because the stakeholders expect it? Sure. However, having this format combined with your ability to hammer home the previous section (work readiness) will push your product in the direction of ensuring your stakeholders and customers that you’re focused on fixing the most impactful features OVER doing something like rushing half-baked and limited impact ideas to production to do it.
Thank you for reading. We’re posting and creating conversations on LinkedIn now, so feel free to follow us there and join the chat.