Roadmap Builder

Prioritize features and keep roadmap focused on what matters.

Prioritization Framework

Impact vs Effort Matrix:

1. High Impact, Low Effort → Build first
2. High Impact, High Effort → Consider after quick wins
3. Low Impact, Low Effort → Maybe, if time permits
4. Low Impact, High Effort → Don't build

Impact = How much it moves the needle on:

• User retention
• Core use case improvement
• Revenue
• User acquisition

Effort = Time to build + maintain:

• <1 week = Low
• 1-2 weeks = Medium

• 2 weeks = High

Category Priority Order

Build in this order:

1. Retention - Keep users coming back
2. Core Features - Make core use case better
3. Monetization - Convert users to paying
4. Growth - Get new users

Never work on Growth before Retention is solid.

Stage-Based Rules

Pre-Launch (No users yet)

ONLY build:

• Core loop features
• Minimum features for user to complete main use case

DO NOT build:

• Nice-to-haves
• Advanced features
• Admin dashboards
• Analytics
• Auth (unless core to the product)
• Any feature "we might need later"

Goal: Ship core loop, get first user, validate idea

Post-Launch (0-100 users)

ONLY build:

• Features users explicitly request
• Fixes for things that block users

DO NOT build:

• Features you think users want
• Optimizations
• Scale features
• Features "power users might want"

How to decide:

• Did 3+ users ask for this?
• Is it blocking users from core loop?
• If neither → don't build

Goal: Find product-market fit

Growth Phase (>100 active users)

Prioritize:

• Features that reduce churn
• Features that increase sharing/referrals
• Monetization features (if not done)

Validate first:

• Can we fake it to test demand?
• What's the usage data saying?
• Is this asked for or just nice?

Goal: Scale what's working

Feature Validation Questions

Ask these three questions for EVERY feature:

1. Does this serve the core use case?

   • If no → don't build
   • If "kind of" → probably don't build

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

   • Check: Are they asking because they hit this problem?
   • Or: Is it a "would be nice" idea?
   • If unclear → fake it first

3. Can we fake it first to validate demand?

   • Manual process
   • No-code tool
   • Hardcoded version
   • If yes → fake it before building

Red Flags

Feature Creep:

• "Since we're building X, we should also add Y"
• "This would be cool to have"
• "Competitors have this"
• Building features not explicitly requested

Premature Optimization:

• "We need to handle scale"
• "Let's build this properly from the start"
• "We should future-proof this"
• Before you have users at scale

Imaginary Users:

• "Power users will want..."
• "Enterprise customers need..."
• "People might use this for..."
• Before real users ask for it

Any of these? Stop and re-evaluate.

Decision Tree

When asked "Should we build X?":

1. What stage are you in?

   • Pre-launch → Is it core loop? No → Don't build
   • Post-launch → Did users ask? No → Don't build
   • Growth → Does it reduce churn? No → Evaluate further

2. If users asked:

   • How many users? <3 → Don't build yet
   • Is it blocking them? No → Lower priority
   • Can you fake it? Yes → Fake it first

3. Score Impact & Effort:

   • High impact, low effort → Build
   • High impact, high effort → Evaluate ROI
   • Low impact, any effort → Don't build

4. Which category?

   • Retention → High priority
   • Core → Medium priority
   • Monetization → If retention is solid
   • Growth → If retention + core are solid

Default answer: "Don't build it yet."

Roadmap Output Format

When creating roadmap:

Now (This week):

• Feature: High impact, low effort, users asking
• Feature: Blocks core loop

Next (This month):

• Feature: High impact, medium effort, validated demand
• Feature: Reduce churn for existing users

Maybe (Future):

• Feature: Good idea but low priority
• Feature: Wait for more user requests

Not Building:

• Feature: Low impact
• Feature: Not requested

Challenging Feature Ideas

When user proposes a feature, respond with:

1. Validation questions:

   • Who asked for this?
   • What problem does it solve?
   • Can we fake it first?

2. Priority assessment:

   • Stage-appropriate?
   • Impact vs effort?
   • Category priority?

3. Alternative approaches:

   • Manual workaround?
   • Existing tool integration?
   • Simpler version?

4. Recommendation:

   • Build now / Build later / Don't build
   • Reasoning in 1-2 sentences

Be direct. Better to push back now than build wrong thing.

Common Mistakes

❌ Building features because competitors have them
❌ Adding features before core loop works
❌ Building for hypothetical future users
❌ Optimizing before you have users
❌ Saying yes to every request
❌ Building what you find interesting vs what users need
❌ Working on growth before retention

Quick Checklist

Before adding to roadmap:

• Is this explicitly requested by users?
• Does it serve core use case?
• Can't we fake it first?
• Is it appropriate for our stage?
• High impact, reasonable effort?
• Right priority category?
• Not a red flag scenario?