Agile Roadmap
An agile roadmap is a flexible, high-level plan that helps teams visualize how their product will evolve over time while remaining open to change. Unlike traditional plans, roadmap templates agile teams use focus on outcomes and themes rather than fixed dates, allowing developers to pivot quickly based on user feedback and shifting market needs.
To understand how to use these templates, we must first answer: what is an agile roadmap? In an Agile environment, a roadmap serves as a strategic guiding document. It connects the “why” of the product—the vision and goals—to the “what”—the features and tasks. Because Agile thrives on iteration, these roadmaps are living documents that teams update frequently.
Agile Teams Need Templates
Using a product roadmap template, agile style ensures that communication remains clear across the organization. It prevents the team from getting bogged down in minute details too early and keeps stakeholders focused on the bigger picture. According to Link 2, a well-structured roadmap helps teams stay aligned on goals even as the specific tasks in the backlog change.
1. The Theme-Based Roadmap Template
This is one of the most popular roadmap templates agile leaders choose because it focuses on “themes” or “problems to be solved” rather than a specific list of features.
How it Works
Instead of saying “Build a login button,” a theme-based roadmap might say “Improve User Security.” This gives the team the freedom to decide the best technical solution (like 2FA or biometric login) during the development cycle.
- Best for: Teams that want to prioritize customer value over specific outputs.
- Key Benefit: Reduces “feature factory” behavior and focuses on solving actual pain points.
2. The Now-Next-Later Roadmap Template
The roadmap template agile teams use most for high-level planning is the “Now-Next-Later” structure. It removes specific dates and replaces them with broad time buckets.
Breakdown of Time Buckets
- Now: Items currently in development or starting very soon. These are high-priority and well-defined.
- Next: Items that are planned for the medium term. These have some definition but may still change.
- Later: Future opportunities or long-term goals. These are loosely defined and serve as a placeholder for ideas.
By avoiding hard deadlines for future tasks, the team avoids making promises they cannot keep, which is a core principle of Agile.
3. The Feature-Based Roadmap Example
The Feature-Based Roadmap Example
A roadmap agile example that focuses on features is one of the most common ways to show exactly what is being built. While some roadmaps focus on big goals or themes, this version lists the specific tools, updates, or capabilities your team is working on. It is especially helpful when talking to sales or marketing teams who need to know exactly which features will be ready for customers.
How to Organize Features In this template, features are often grouped into “swimlanes”—which are just horizontal rows that keep things organized. You can categorize these lanes in a few easy ways:
- By Platform: Creating separate rows for the “Website,” “iOS App,” and “Android App.”
- By Team: Showing what the “Payments Team” is doing versus the “Search Team.”
- By Timeframe: Organizing features by the month or quarter they are expected to be finished.
To keep this “Agile,” you only commit to specific details for the near future. Items planned for later in the year are kept broad, allowing the team to change direction if the customer needs to shift.
A Simple Roadmap Entry Instead of a complicated document, think of each feature on your roadmap as a simple information card. Here is what a typical entry looks like:
- Feature Name: Dark Mode Support
- Status: Currently Building
- Priority: High
- Target Release: Q3 2026
- Assigned Team: Mobile Core Team
This simple structure ensures that everyone on the team knows exactly what is being built, who is building it, and when it is expected to launch.
4. The Strategy-Oriented Roadmap Template
This product roadmap template agile teams link every activity directly to a business goal. Link 1 emphasizes that every item on the roadmap should have a clear “why.”
Strategic Alignment
In this template, the roadmap is divided into sections based on goals, such as:
- Goal 1: Increase User Retention by 15%.
- Goal 2: Expand into the European Market.
- Goal 3: Reduce Technical Debt.
By organizing the roadmap this way, it is easy for stakeholders to see exactly how development work is contributing to the company’s bottom line.
5. The Release Plan Roadmap Template
This is a more granular roadmap agile example that is perfect for internal development teams. It focuses on the technical milestones needed to get a product to a “shippable” state.
Tracking Progress
It often includes:
- Internal Milestones: Beta testing dates or security audits.
- External Releases: When the feature goes live to all users.
- Dependencies: Highlighting which tasks must be finished before others can begin.
This helps the engineering team coordinate their efforts and ensures that everyone knows the sequence of events leading up to a major launch.
Best Practices for Maintaining Your Roadmap
Creating the roadmap is only the first step. To keep it “Agile,” you must follow these general best practices derived from our source materials:
- Keep it Simple: Avoid including every single bug fix or minor update. Use the backlog for that level of detail.
- Update Frequently: A roadmap that hasn’t been touched in three months is no longer an Agile roadmap.
- Involve the Team: Don’t build the roadmap in a vacuum. Developers and designers should have a say in what is feasible.
- Focus on Outcomes: Always ask, “What is the intended result of this feature?” rather than just “When will it be done?”
PW SKILLS Course Suggestion
If you want to master the art of building and managing these roadmaps, PW SKILLS offers specialized training to help you excel in a product management role.
- Course: Product Management Course
- Why this course? You will learn how to use professional tools like Jira and Visor to build real-world roadmap templates agile teams use in top tech companies. The curriculum covers everything from strategic vision to the day-to-day management of an agile team.
- Explore more at: PW SKILLS
Read more about Agile:
FAQs
- What is a roadmap that is flexible?
An agile roadmap is a plan that shows how a product will change over time and what its long-term goals are. It is meant to be updated often as the team learns more about its users and the market, unlike a static strategy.
- What makes an agile roadmap template different from a waterfall roadmap?
A waterfall roadmap usually has strict dates and features that don’t change for a year or more. An agile roadmap template employs variable periods (like Now-Next-Later) and focuses on goals or themes instead of precise dates.
- What should an agile product roadmap template have?
The product vision, strategic goals, high-level themes, wide timeframes, and critical milestones are all important parts. It shouldn’t go into too much technical information, which should be in the product backlog.
- How often should you change an example of an agile roadmap?
The best time to look over and update the roadmap is at the conclusion of each sprint or at least once a month. This will make sure it has the most up-to-date information and priorities.
- Is it possible to utilize Jira for agile roadmap templates?
Yes, Jira has built-in capabilities (see Link 2) that let you make dynamic roadmaps that are linked directly to your team’s tasks and epics. This keeps the strategy and execution in one place.
- Who is in charge of the agile roadmap?
The Product Manager usually owns the roadmap, but they need to work closely with stakeholders and the development team to make sure the plan is doable and fits with the goals of the business.
- Is a project plan the same thing as a roadmap?
No. A project plan is a long list of things that need to be done and when they need to be done. A roadmap is a high-level strategic plan that looks at the “big picture” and what value it brings to users.