Use a Feature Parking Lot to See Possibilities
Some projects have a potential roadmap a mile or two long. Instead of trying to slot everything into quarters, consider using a visible parking lot, like the one shown in the following table.
| Idea | Date Added | Value to Us | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
Engine automation at scale | January 12 | Might be able to capture the vertical we keep talking about | No one else does this |
Cloud-based search | February 2 | ?? | Danny, CTO, wants us to do this |
Calendar integration | June 15 | Need to integrate calendar and email at some point | Customers have been requesting this |
The parking lot helps separate “what we do now” from “what we want to do later.” It might help your organization see the uncertainty you have in the roadmap.
Consider ways you can show uncertainty in the roadmap, and be able to change what the team delivers on a frequent basis. As long as you have small stories, creating and using rolling-wave roadmaps will help the team and the sponsors see your lack of certainty and the possibilities.