Roadmap Builder Skill

Purpose

Helps you decide what to build next by applying ruthless prioritization. Prevents feature creep and keeps you focused on what actually moves the needle for your product.

Philosophy: Ship less, validate more. Build for real users, not imaginary ones.

When to Use

Use this skill to:

• Prioritize roadmap - Decide what to build next
• Challenge feature ideas - Validate before building
• Review backlog - Cut features that don't matter
• Stage transitions - Adjust priorities as you grow
• User requests - Filter signal from noise

Prioritization Framework

Impact vs Effort Matrix

Scoring System:

• Impact: 1-10 (How much does this move key metrics?)
• Effort: 1-10 (Time, complexity, risk)
• Priority Score: Impact / Effort

High Impact, Low Effort (Score: 5-10)
├─ BUILD NOW - Quick wins, massive value
└─ Examples: Fix critical bug, add login, improve onboarding

High Impact, High Effort (Score: 1-2)
├─ BUILD LATER - Big projects, plan carefully
└─ Examples: New platform, major feature, infrastructure rewrite

Low Impact, Low Effort (Score: 2-5)
├─ MAYBE - Nice to haves, fill gaps
└─ Examples: UI polish, minor improvements, small tweaks

Low Impact, High Effort (Score: <1)
├─ DON'T BUILD - Waste of time
└─ Examples: Premature optimization, edge cases, vanity features

Category Prioritization (In Order)

1. Retention (Highest Priority)

• Features that keep users coming back
• Reduce churn, increase engagement
• Fix pain points in existing experience

Examples:

• Email reminders for inactive users
• Improve core workflow speed
• Fix frustrating bugs
• Better mobile experience

2. Core Features (High Priority)

• Essential functionality for main use case
• Features that unlock more users
• Remove blockers to adoption

Examples:

• Critical integrations (Google, Stripe)
• Key workflows that users expect
• Platform parity (web → mobile)

3. Monetization (Medium Priority)

• Features that directly generate revenue
• Upgrade incentives for free users
• Reduce payment friction

Examples:

• Premium features
• Usage limits for free tier
• Better billing UX
• Enterprise features

4. Growth (Lower Priority)

• Features that bring new users
• Viral loops, referrals, sharing
• SEO, content, marketing tools

Examples:

• Social sharing
• Referral program
• Public profiles
• Embeds

Stage-Based Rules

Pre-Launch (0 users)

ONLY build: Core loop features

• Minimum viable product
• Essential user flow
• One use case done well

DO NOT build:

• Settings pages
• Advanced features
• Edge cases
• Integrations
• Analytics dashboards
• Admin panels

Focus: Get to launchable state ASAP

✅ Good Pre-Launch Roadmap:

1. User auth (login/signup)
2. Core feature (the ONE thing your app does)
3. Basic UI that works
4. Deploy and launch

❌ Bad Pre-Launch Roadmap:

1. Advanced settings
2. Multiple themes
3. Social sharing
4. Analytics
5. Admin dashboard
6. API
7. Integrations
(Never actually launches)

Post-Launch (1-100 users)

ONLY build: Features users explicitly request

• Listen to real feedback
• Fix reported bugs
• Improve existing features

DO NOT build:

• Features you think they need
• Features competitors have
• Cool ideas you had

Focus: Make early users love it

✅ Good Post-Launch Prioritization:

User: "I can't export my data"
You: Add export feature (directly requested)

User: "The app is slow on mobile"
You: Optimize mobile performance (retention)

❌ Bad Post-Launch Prioritization:

You: "Let's add dark mode!" (nobody asked)
You: "We need social features!" (imaginary need)
You: "Competitor has X, we need it too!" (not validated)

Growth Phase (100+ users)

ONLY build: Features that reduce churn OR increase sharing

• Data-driven decisions
• A/B test before building
• Measure impact

DO NOT build:

• Features <5% of users request
• Features with unclear metrics
• Vanity features

Focus: Scale what works

✅ Good Growth Prioritization:

Data: 30% of users churn after day 3
You: Improve day 3 onboarding (retention)

Data: Users who invite friends have 5x retention
You: Make inviting easier (growth)

❌ Bad Growth Prioritization:

You: "Let's rebuild in React!" (no user impact)
You: "We need blockchain integration!" (vanity)

Validation Questions

Ask These About EVERY Feature Idea:

1. Does this serve the core use case?

• Yes: Might be worth building
• No: Probably distraction

Example:

Idea: Add chat feature to a to-do app
Question: Does chat help people manage tasks?
Answer: No, it's a different use case
Decision: ❌ Skip it

2. Will users actually use this or just say they want it?

• Actually use: Look for existing workarounds, pain points
• Just say: Hypothetical, "nice to have", no urgency

Example:

User: "It would be cool to have custom themes"
You: "How often would you change themes?"
User: "Maybe once when I set it up"
Decision: ⚠️ Low priority - not actually needed

3. Can we fake it first to validate demand?

Fake It Techniques:

• Manual process: Do it by hand before automating
• Waitlist: "Coming soon" for feature validation
• Button test: Add button, see if anyone clicks
• Concierge: White-glove service before building product

Example:

Idea: Automated report generation
Fake it: Send reports manually for 10 users
Learn: Which reports do they actually read?
Then: Build automation only for used reports

Red Flag Detection

🚩 Feature Creep

Signs:

• "Wouldn't it be cool if..."
• "Competitor has this..."
• "This would be easy to add..."
• Feature list keeps growing, never shipping

Fix: Apply Impact/Effort score. If <5, don't build.

🚩 Premature Optimization

Signs:

• "We need to scale to 1M users"
• "Let's rewrite for performance"
• No actual performance problems yet

Fix: Wait until you have the problem. Optimize when real users complain.

🚩 Building for Imaginary Users

Signs:

• "Users will want..."
• "People might need..."
• No direct user requests
• No data supporting need

Fix: Talk to 5 real users. If none care, don't build.

Decision Framework

Feature Evaluation Template

Feature: [Name]
Requested by: [Real user quote or "Internal idea"]
Stage: [Pre-launch | Post-launch | Growth]

IMPACT (1-10):
├─ Retention: [Score] - [Explanation]
├─ Revenue: [Score] - [Explanation]
└─ Growth: [Score] - [Explanation]
Total Impact: [Sum/3]

EFFORT (1-10):
├─ Time: [Days/Weeks]
├─ Complexity: [1-10]
└─ Risk: [1-10]
Total Effort: [Average]

PRIORITY SCORE: [Impact / Effort]

VALIDATION:
├─ Serves core use case? [Yes/No]
├─ Users will actually use? [Yes/No/Maybe]
└─ Can we fake it first? [Yes/No]

RED FLAGS:
├─ Feature creep? [Yes/No]
├─ Premature optimization? [Yes/No]
└─ Imaginary users? [Yes/No]

DECISION: [Build Now | Build Later | Maybe | Skip]

Examples

Example 1: Should Build

Feature: Email notifications for new comments
Requested by: 15 users directly asked for this
Stage: Post-launch (50 users)

IMPACT (1-10):
├─ Retention: 8 - Users miss replies, forget to come back
├─ Revenue: 3 - Doesn't directly affect monetization
└─ Growth: 5 - More engagement could lead to referrals
Total Impact: 5.3

EFFORT (1-10):
├─ Time: 2 days
├─ Complexity: 3 - Use email service, simple templates
└─ Risk: 2 - Low risk, standard feature
Total Effort: 2.3

PRIORITY SCORE: 5.3 / 2.3 = 2.3 (Medium priority)

VALIDATION:
├─ Serves core use case? Yes - commenting is core feature
├─ Users will actually use? Yes - explicitly requested by many
└─ Can we fake it first? Already doing it (user pain point)

RED FLAGS:
├─ Feature creep? No - directly serves retention
├─ Premature optimization? No - real user need
└─ Imaginary users? No - 15 real users requested it

DECISION: ✅ Build Now (High impact on retention, low effort)

Example 2: Should Skip

Feature: AI-powered task suggestions
Requested by: Internal idea, "users might like it"
Stage: Pre-launch (0 users)

IMPACT (1-10):
├─ Retention: 2 - Unproven, might annoy users
├─ Revenue: 1 - No monetization impact
└─ Growth: 3 - Could be interesting for marketing
Total Impact: 2.0

EFFORT (1-10):
├─ Time: 3-4 weeks
├─ Complexity: 9 - AI integration, training, testing
└─ Risk: 8 - Quality concerns, API costs, uncertainty
Total Effort: 8.7

PRIORITY SCORE: 2.0 / 8.7 = 0.23 (Very low priority)

VALIDATION:
├─ Serves core use case? No - task management works without AI
├─ Users will actually use? Unknown - no user validation
└─ Can we fake it first? Yes - could manually suggest tasks

RED FLAGS:
├─ Feature creep? Yes - "cool" but not essential
├─ Premature optimization? Yes - no users yet
└─ Imaginary users? Yes - assuming users want AI

DECISION: ❌ Skip It (Low impact, high effort, pre-launch)

ALTERNATIVE: Launch without AI. If users ask for suggestions,
manually send them ideas. If >50% engage, then consider AI.

Example 3: Maybe Later

Feature: Mobile app (native iOS/Android)
Requested by: 8 users mentioned "would be nice"
Stage: Post-launch (150 users, responsive web app exists)

IMPACT (1-10):
├─ Retention: 7 - Better mobile experience could help
├─ Revenue: 4 - Might unlock mobile-first users
└─ Growth: 6 - App store presence helps discovery
Total Impact: 5.7

EFFORT (1-10):
├─ Time: 8-12 weeks for MVP
├─ Complexity: 9 - New platform, app store, maintenance
└─ Risk: 7 - Resource intensive, ongoing maintenance
Total Effort: 8.3

PRIORITY SCORE: 5.7 / 8.3 = 0.69 (Low priority)

VALIDATION:
├─ Serves core use case? Yes - accessibility improvement
├─ Users will actually use? Maybe - web app works already
└─ Can we fake it first? Already doing it (responsive web)

RED FLAGS:
├─ Feature creep? Maybe - web app might be enough
├─ Premature optimization? Maybe - web could improve first
└─ Imaginary users? Partially - only 8 mentioned it

DECISION: ⏸️ Build Later

REASONING: High effort for uncertain gain.
NEXT STEPS:
1. Track web app mobile usage (are users struggling?)
2. Improve mobile web experience first
3. If >30% of users are mobile AND churn is high, reconsider
4. Consider PWA (progressive web app) as middle ground

Example 4: Fake It First

Feature: Automated weekly report emails
Requested by: 3 users asked for "progress summaries"
Stage: Post-launch (80 users)

IMPACT (1-10):
├─ Retention: 6 - Could remind users to come back
├─ Revenue: 3 - Might help conversions
└─ Growth: 2 - Not a growth driver
Total Impact: 3.7

EFFORT (1-10):
├─ Time: 1 week to build automation
├─ Complexity: 5 - Email templates, scheduling, data aggregation
└─ Risk: 4 - Medium complexity
Total Effort: 4.7

PRIORITY SCORE: 3.7 / 4.7 = 0.79 (Low-medium priority)

VALIDATION:
├─ Serves core use case? Maybe - tangential to core feature
├─ Users will actually use? Unknown - might just delete emails
└─ Can we fake it first? YES!

RED FLAGS:
├─ Feature creep? Possibly - not sure if needed
├─ Premature optimization? No - small effort
└─ Imaginary users? Partially - only 3 users mentioned

DECISION: 🧪 Fake It First

ACTION PLAN:
1. Manually send weekly summaries to 10 users
2. Track open rates and engagement
3. Ask recipients: "Would you want this automated?"
4. If >50% open AND engage, build automation
5. If <50%, drop the idea

RESULT: Spend 2 hours testing vs 1 week building something nobody wants.

Roadmap Template

Quarterly Roadmap Structure

Q[X] [Year] - [Stage Name]

🎯 NORTH STAR METRIC: [What we're optimizing for]
Example: DAU (Daily Active Users), Retention Rate, MRR

📊 CURRENT STATE:
├─ Users: [number]
├─ Key Metric: [number]
└─ Biggest Problem: [user pain point]

🚀 THIS QUARTER'S FOCUS:

1. RETENTION (Must Build)
   ├─ [Feature 1] - Impact: X, Effort: Y, Score: Z
   ├─ [Feature 2] - Impact: X, Effort: Y, Score: Z
   └─ Why: [How this improves retention]

2. CORE FEATURES (Should Build)
   ├─ [Feature 3] - Impact: X, Effort: Y, Score: Z
   └─ Why: [How this unlocks users]

3. MONETIZATION (Nice to Have)
   ├─ [Feature 4] - Impact: X, Effort: Y, Score: Z
   └─ Why: [How this drives revenue]

4. GROWTH (If Time Allows)
   └─ [Feature 5] - Impact: X, Effort: Y, Score: Z

📋 BACKLOG (Not Building Yet):
├─ [Deferred Feature 1] - Why: Low priority score
├─ [Deferred Feature 2] - Why: Need validation first
└─ [Deferred Feature 3] - Why: Premature optimization

❌ NOT BUILDING (Ever):
├─ [Rejected Feature 1] - Why: Feature creep
├─ [Rejected Feature 2] - Why: Imaginary users
└─ [Rejected Feature 3] - Why: Low impact, high effort

🧪 VALIDATION EXPERIMENTS:
├─ [Test 1] - Fake it before building
└─ [Test 2] - A/B test to validate demand

Example Roadmap

Q1 2025 - Post-Launch Growth

🎯 NORTH STAR METRIC: 7-day Retention Rate
Current: 40% | Goal: 55%

📊 CURRENT STATE:
├─ Users: 250
├─ 7-day Retention: 40%
└─ Biggest Problem: Users sign up but don't complete setup

🚀 THIS QUARTER'S FOCUS:

1. RETENTION (Must Build)
   ├─ Improve onboarding flow - Impact: 9, Effort: 3, Score: 3.0
   │  └─ Why: 60% of users abandon during setup
   ├─ Email nudges for inactive users - Impact: 7, Effort: 2, Score: 3.5
   │  └─ Why: Users forget to come back after day 1
   └─ Mobile web optimization - Impact: 8, Effort: 4, Score: 2.0
      └─ Why: 45% of traffic is mobile, experience is poor

2. CORE FEATURES (Should Build)
   ├─ Google Calendar integration - Impact: 7, Effort: 5, Score: 1.4
   │  └─ Why: 30 users requested it, unlocks power users
   └─ Bulk actions - Impact: 6, Effort: 2, Score: 3.0
      └─ Why: Users with >50 items struggle with UI

3. MONETIZATION (Nice to Have)
   └─ Premium plan page - Impact: 5, Effort: 3, Score: 1.7
      └─ Why: Need upgrade path before hitting free limits

4. GROWTH (If Time Allows)
   └─ Public sharing - Impact: 4, Effort: 6, Score: 0.67
      └─ Why: Could drive referrals, but unproven

📋 BACKLOG (Not Building Yet):
├─ Dark mode - Score: 0.5 (low priority, nice to have)
├─ API access - Score: 0.8 (too early, no demand yet)
└─ Team features - Score: 1.2 (B2B pivot, need validation)

❌ NOT BUILDING (Ever):
├─ Blockchain integration - Why: Feature creep, no user need
├─ AI predictions - Why: Premature, no data yet
└─ Gamification - Why: Distraction from core use case

🧪 VALIDATION EXPERIMENTS:
├─ Test premium pricing - Show upgrade CTA to 50 users, measure clicks
└─ Test sharing - Add "Share" button, track usage before building feature

Integration with Other Skills

1. Idea Validator → Validate idea is worth building at all
2. Roadmap Builder → Decide what to build and when
3. Design Guide → Build it with modern UI
4. Confidence Check → Verify technical approach before coding

Quick Decision Flowchart

New Feature Idea
     ↓
Is it core use case? → No → ❌ Skip
     ↓ Yes
What stage are you in?
     ↓
┌────┼────┐
Pre   Post  Growth
↓     ↓     ↓
Core  User  Data
Only  Asked Driven
↓     ↓     ↓
Calculate Impact/Effort Score
     ↓
Score > 2? → No → 📋 Backlog
     ↓ Yes
Can fake first? → Yes → 🧪 Test
     ↓ No
Any red flags? → Yes → ❌ Skip
     ↓ No
✅ Build It

Common Pitfalls

❌ Building Too Much

Symptom: Roadmap has 50 items for next quarter Fix: Pick top 3-5 by priority score. Defer rest.

❌ Building Too Little

Symptom: Shipping one tiny feature per month Fix: Increase effort estimates may be too conservative. Ship weekly.

❌ Ignoring User Requests

Symptom: Building internal ideas, ignoring feedback Fix: Post-launch, ONLY build what users request.

❌ Building Every Request

Symptom: Saying yes to every user suggestion Fix: Apply validation questions. Most requests aren't worth building.

❌ Analysis Paralysis

Symptom: Endless planning, no shipping Fix: Make decision in 15 minutes. Build or skip, don't overthink.

Metrics to Track

Pre-Launch

• Days until launch
• Core features complete
• Blocker count

Post-Launch

• User requests count
• Bug reports
• Feature usage rates
• Churn points

Growth

• Retention by cohort
• Feature adoption rates
• Request frequency (top 5 requests)
• Time from idea → ship

Summary

Golden Rules:

1. Pre-launch: Core only
2. Post-launch: Users only
3. Growth: Data only
4. Impact/Effort > 2 = Build
5. Can't fake it? Build
6. Fake it? Test first
7. Red flags? Skip

Remember: Your roadmap is what you say NO to, not what you say yes to. Ruthlessly cut features that don't move the needle.