The Road(map) WarriorTactics for fighting a PM’s defining battle

Mike DitsonProductCamp Austin 12Feb. 15, 2014

The Goal

A roadmap process that facilitates decisions on next steps to keep your company on course.

AUTONOMY

“Over-deliver, make your boss look good”

-Jack Welch

Founded a high tech company in his 20’s

Shared a name with his other founder

Became world-famous still in his 20’s

A demanding Perfectionist to work for

Designed a gorgeous campus for his employees

His name is now synonymous with Quality & Innovation

WALT DISNEY

Bad Signs…

The “algo”rithm method

Feature Dev

Eff

ort

Rev

enu

e

Tech

nic

al D

ebt

Ris

k

Cu

sto

mer

Sat

Ran

k (f

rom

"m

agic

"

wei

ghte

d f

orm

ula

)

Jet Pack attachment 3 4 1 5 7 5

Cold Fusion re-architecture 6 0 10 10 3 3

New "alchemy" Workflow 4 ∞ 10 2 10 4

Anti-gravity 7 10 0 10 5 2

"Offline" Support 10 0 0 10 -40 1

The “KING SOLOMON”

Feature

% of

Resources

Customer enhancements 20

Sales Features 40

"Platform" 10

Technical Debt 25

Differentiating 5

18 Month Product Roadmap:

2009Q1

2010Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

Feature– Corporate

Should

Feature

Feature feature

Same dumb feature

Money

Maker

New

Pro

duct

be

Alpha

Feature

Feature

Feature

Beta

Feature

Updated: 2/14/14O

ther

Pushed

feature

out

At the expense

feature

Feature

“easy”

Great idea, near impo

Of more impt stuff

Never get to

New dollars baby!

Feature Never gonna hapn

Fully deployedFeature– User Mgmt

“Dark” roll out

Limited roll out

Code complete

• Green bars indicate new

revenue opportunities

feature

feature

Feature

Feature

feature

August (Orange line)

-1st credible Enterprise cut

•Enhanced stuff

• Not ready to ship 1.0

Q4

-Enterprise Additions

• Reporting Depth

•Massive bug fixes from 1.0

Q1

-Long term mucky muck

• Put here to make CEO

happy

•Other stuff

NOTE: The near-term two quarters show targeted features by month. Quarters three or more out show features mid quarter, but

without sizing represent in-quarter targets.

Product Planning.

Strategy

Daily

Sprint

Release

Roadmap

Portfolio

Many years

years

Many Months

2-9 Months

Weeks

Exe

cuti

veP

rod

uct

Mgm

tD

eve

lop

me

nt

Get behind the scenes…

…a.k.a., “The Stake holder Shuffle.”

Hopeless Jackasses

CIRCLE OF TRUST

“Get’s it” –One of “us”

Reasonable – Can be worked with

Much harder

The “format” of the roadmap

Rate of RM Review (gates)

The release cycle

Easier

Release content

Product Resource mix

Releaseby release

content

© 2008 | Confidential and Proprietary | updated ER 26-Jun-08

ATM Release Timeline 2007-2009

© 2008 | Confidential and Proprietary | updated ER 26-Jun-08

10.8 ATM Release Details

• Timeline– RFE – 12/15/2008– FCA – 2/2/2009

• 10.8 Themes Advanced analytics Talent pool marketing Performance:

Advanced goal management features

Compensation: Customer implementation support

• Common

Process for adding non-standard languages to a customer deployment (yes/no decision)

Data warehousing feed

Upgrade Spell Check and RTE

• Recruiting

On-line Job Application with PDF forms

Job Posting Simplification (Global settings, updated administration, UI enhancements)

RSS-based referral widget for Facebook and LinkedIn

SOFL Commitment - 508a Compliance for hiring managers only

• Performance (Appraisals and Goals)

Customer Driven enhancements

Organizational Goal Setting

Goal Alignment

Goal Tracking Scorecard

HR Mandated Goals

Manager Mandated Goals Wizard

Previous Manager Feedback

Interim Rating Support

• Compensation (Salary, Bonus and Stock)

Customer Driven enhancements

Total Comp Worksheet

Advanced Analytics

Manager Proxy

Worksheet Preview

Compensation Tab on Talent Profile

Your Best Friend

The Trust“Snowball”

• Slow going at the start• Second guessed at each turn• Hard fought wins

• Roadmap reviews go faster

• Become less painful• Grows your

Autonomy

Each on-time release builds your momentum

Product Manager

Thanks…