Visualize plans over three time frames with the Now, Next, Later view.
Introducing the Now, Next, Later roadmap
Sharing a date for a deliverable represents a form of commitment. With a deadline to work against, you are able to plan what you can feasibly deliver. This is why most roadmap views in Aha! Roadmaps are date-based. But sometimes, you need to summarize your plans using broad time frames before you get into the nitty-gritty details. So we created a new roadmap for teams that like to present immediate, upcoming, and future plans at a higher level.
Use the new Now, Next, Later roadmap to showcase work before committing to specific dates.
The new roadmap allows you to summarize your plans based on three customizable time frames. These can be fixed (think: weekly, monthly, or quarterly) or rolling (like every 60 or 90 days). And the timeline will keep current as things progress so your roadmap always stays up to date.
This is a great way to share early roadmap plans with stakeholders. For example, you could hold a planning session with team leaders to decide on near-term priorities or unveil what you are committing to this quarter to customer-facing teams. Once your plans take shape, you can switch to a more detailed time-based roadmap — all of the same data applies.
Find this new view in the Roadmaps menu of Aha! Roadmaps. Select the record type you want to appear: Features, Epics, or Initiatives. Then, set your time frames. You can group, filter, and sort your data from there to dial in on the details you care about. Customize column names and descriptive text to tell a clear story. When you are ready, save the roadmap view and add it to a presentation or share it as a webpage.
Let's take a closer look at two scenarios where this roadmap comes in handy:
Define key themes
Align stakeholders around the scope and sequence of work within your strategic initiatives. In the example below, we are determining what to build in this half versus next. Notice that we have grouped features by initiative and selected semiannual time frames. Once we align on the buckets of work, we can do more detailed planning.
You can choose to show or hide descriptions and dates for each of the three time horizons in a Now, Next, Later roadmap.
Highlight your plans
Colleagues and customers want to share in the excitement of what you are building. In the example below, we are displaying features planned over the next 90 and 180 days. This view automatically updates when the work gets underway and dates change within Aha Roadmaps — so everyone gets the latest information.
The Now, Next, Later roadmap allows you to summarize the direction for your product — all while remaining flexible with updates and insights as plans progress.
It is worth mentioning that we also offer this roadmap as a whiteboard template. You might choose to use it during early planning sessions before you convert work into actionable items in Aha! Roadmaps.
The future is uncertain — but your plans do not need to be. As you map out work over longer time frames, use the Now, Next, Later roadmap to chart a clear and deliberate course without committing to exact dates.
Sign up for a free trial of Aha! Roadmaps
Aha! Roadmaps is the best way to set strategy, prioritize features, and share visual plans. It includes Aha! Ideas Essentials for crowdsourcing feedback. If you are interested in an integrated product development approach, use Aha! Roadmaps and Aha! Develop together. Sign up for a free 30-day trial or join a live demo to see why more than 700,000 product builders trust our software to build lovable products and be happy doing it.
