A product roadmap is a plan that communicates what your team is building, why, and roughly when. It's both an internal planning tool and an external communication tool, and most teams use slightly different versions depending on the audience.
Common formats
Timeline roadmap plots features against quarters or months. Good for executives who want to see when things ship. Can create false precision if treated as a promise rather than a plan.
Now-Next-Later is the most honest format for fast-moving teams. "Now" is what you're actively building. "Next" is queued up. "Later" is directional, not scheduled. The further out something is, the less certain you should be about it.
Who the roadmap is for
Your team needs detail for day-to-day decisions. Customers want to know if their request is coming. Executives want to see strategy in the plan. Sales and CS need enough to set accurate expectations.
The common mistake is building one roadmap and showing it to everyone. The format that works for engineering rarely works for a sales call.
Share a customer-facing roadmap that builds trust with FeatureOS Roadmaps.