Product Roadmap Template

Use this free product roadmap template for Excel to turn an idea into a marketable piece of merchandise. This a long journey that must be clearly outlined to get there on time, within budget and maintaining quality. Download this free product roadmap template to create a high-level overview of every step.

Developing a product is a dynamic activity not well served by a static document or even the best template. Instead, project management software offers the control you need to deliver a successful product.

ProjectManager is award-winning product management software with robust roadmaps that provide a strategic view of the product roadmap to ensure it meets the key goals and keeps the team on track. Unlike templates, using our product roadmap seamlessly links to resource management, time tracking and task management tools that help reach a successful completion. Users can view key performance indicators (KPIs), link all four types of task dependencies to avoid costly delays, filter for the critical path and set a baseline to monitor the planned effort against the actual effort in real time. Get started with ProjectManger today for free and make a better product roadmap.

ProjectManager's project portfolio roadmap feature — ProjectManager’s product roadmap template is free to use and more powerful than Excel. Try it now!

What Is a Product Roadmap Template?

A product roadmap template is a strategic document that outlines the vision, direction and timeline of a product’s development. It provides a high-level view of the product’s key goals, features, milestones and initiatives. This helps the team align priorities, track progress and communicate plans with stakeholders. There are various types of product roadmaps.

Strategic roadmaps outline the product’s long-term vision, goals and strategic direction.
Feature roadmaps focus on the specific features or capabilities to be developed and released over time.
Release roadmaps detail how and when features or products will be launched.
Technical roadmaps speak to technical improvements, infrastructure or platform changes.
Timeline roadmaps visually represent the timeline of tasks, features or initiatives.

When making a product roadmap, keep in mind that it’s a high-level overview, not a detailed one. However, it should be actionable, highlighting key initiatives and milestones. The roadmap should also evolve based on customer feedback, sales input and performance data, so it should be flexible. These are also living documents, which are shared with stakeholders, including marketing, sales, customer support and the executive team. They should be reviewed and updated regularly.

Why Use a Product Roadmap Template?

There are several advantages to using a product roadmap template. For one, it provides structure and consistency to streamline processes and save time. It’s also a great tool to improve communication across departments and external stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Using this template forces managers to prioritize features, goals and initiatives based on business needs, customer feedback or strategic direction. This guides decision-making and prevents the introduction of unnecessary features that can lead to scope creep.

Product development is dynamic, as we stated above, and a product roadmap offers a clear and organized way to update it over time. This makes it easier to iterate and track progress by producing reports, managing dependencies and documenting delays. It also improves the larger strategic planning by clarifying the big picture and aligning with business goals.

Who Is This Product Roadmap Template For?

The number of professionals who can use this free template is vast. Anyone involved in the development, management and execution of a product can use it. Some of those people are listed below.

Product managers
Development and engineering teams
Design teams
Marketing teams
Sales teams
Customer support teams
Executives and leadership
Investors and stakeholders
Business analysts
Quality assurance (QA) teams
Customer success teams

When Should You Use This Product Roadmap Template?

There are several key stages of the product development process to use this template. It’s critical to planning, communicating and tracking progress. Below are some specific points in the product life cycle to use the template.

At the beginning of a new product or feature development
Aligning teams around product strategy
Communicating with stakeholders
During agile or iterative product development
Managing multiple product versions or roadmaps
Preparing for product launches
Evaluating product progress and adjusting strategy
Responding to market changes or customer feedback
Managing dependencies between teams or projects
Forecasting and planning long-term product development
Seeking external feedback
Managing product backlog

What’s Included in This Product Roadmap Template?

Once users download the product roadmap template, they will have a fully customizable document. They can add their company logo or add and subtract as necessary to match their process. The template outlines the basics for a product roadmap which we explain below.

Timeline

The timeline is divided into weeks, months and quarters to show task duration. It also helps with tracking progress and managing expectations.

Tasks and Activities

The product development tasks are the actions that need to be executed to deliver the final product by the deadline.

Deliverables

Deliverables are created to fulfill the product objective. They can be tangible or intangible items created en route to the final product.

Team

There’s also a column to list the teams involved in the product development process. This shows the activities of each department and how they will work together in developing the product.

Related Product Templates

Other free templates can help when building a product roadmap. Our site has over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word that cover every aspect of managing projects across multiple industries. Here are just a few that help with product management.

Strategic Plan Template

A strategic plan captures a company’s future vision, goals and objectives. Often this includes introducing new products or revised products into the marketplace. Use this free strategic plan template for Word to create a target that is shared with everyone to help them work together and meet that goal.

Strategy Map Template

Use this free strategy map for Excel to create a visual representation of the cause-and-effect of the company’s strategic objectives. This allows everyone to slow down and consider the objectives from different perspectives to ensure the decisions are right for the whole company.

Gantt Chart Template

The product roadmap is like a Gantt chart that can show multiple projects. To focus on one project, use this free Gantt chart template for Excel. It lists all the project tasks and their duration. As the data is entered on the left, it automatically populates a visual timeline to the right.

ProjectManager Is Better Than a Product Roadmap Template

While a static template has some benefits, it is ultimately unfit to manage the development of a product from start to finish. It’s simply inefficient to take time away from the job to manually add data to the template. It’s also a poor collaborative tool, especially when coordinating between departments. Instead, product development is better served by project management software. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with powerful roadmaps that do everything a template can, but updating in real time and linking to other tools are essential in getting that product to market on time and within budget.

Track Costs and Budgets in Real Time

A product roadmap template isn’t equipped to track costs and help the project stay within its budget. But product managers can get a high-level overview of costs by toggling over to the real-time project or portfolio dashboards. Live data is automatically collected and displayed on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show costs, but also time, workload and more. Customizable reports go deeper into the data and secure timesheets streamline payroll while providing a window into labor costs.

Balance Resources to Stay Productive

One way to keep on schedule is by monitoring and adjusting resources as needed. The product roadmap feature can schedule resources and when onboarding team members, managers can set their availability, including PTO, vacation and global holidays as well as skill sets. This helps make assigning easier. Then, managers can view the team page or color-coded workload chart to see who is overallocated or underutilized. From that page, they can balance the workload to keep everyone working at capacity without risking burnout.