alexe-ev Build Roadmap & Prioritization
Purpose
Help teams structure and prioritize a product roadmap that reflects strategic goals, user value, and delivery constraints.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A team has a long backlog and can't decide what to do next
- A roadmap exists but lacks strategic coherence or trade-off clarity
- Stakeholders are debating priorities without a structured framework
- A quarterly or annual roadmap planning cycle is starting
Do not use this skill when
- The goal is portfolio-level strategy (use build-portfolio-roadmap-strategy)
- The goal is sprint-level delivery planning (use plan-delivery-collaboration)
Required inputs
- List of features, initiatives, or requests (even rough)
- Goals or OKRs this roadmap should serve
Optional inputs
- Prioritization criteria or weights
- Team capacity or constraints
- Customer segment priorities
- Technical dependencies
Upstream context
Works best when:
- Goals/OKRs are defined
- Opportunities are framed and sized
If upstream context is missing
If no goals are defined, do not prioritize. First establish what outcomes the roadmap should drive.
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- write-requirements-prd (define requirements for top priority items)
- plan-delivery-collaboration (structure delivery for prioritized items)
- set-goals-okrs-kpis (validate that prioritized items map to goals)
Instructions
- Collect all initiatives to be considered.
- Apply a prioritization framework (RICE, ICE, opportunity-impact, or goal-mapping).
- Map each initiative to a goal or OKR.
- Identify quick wins vs. strategic bets.
- Identify dependencies and sequencing constraints.
- Produce a now / next / later roadmap structure.
- Make trade-offs explicit: what is being deprioritized and why.
Output
Provide:
- Prioritized initiative list with rationale
- Roadmap structure (now / next / later or time-horizon based)
- Goal mapping for each initiative
- Trade-off decisions (what was deprioritized)
- Dependencies and sequencing notes
- Assumptions
Risks / caveats
- Prioritization without goals is opinion sorting, not strategy
- A roadmap is a communication tool, not a contract
- Make deprioritization visible — hiding it creates misalignment