12 ChatGPT prompts for PMs creating a product roadmap

Creating an effective product roadmap is a critical task for product managers. A well-crafted roadmap not only communicates the product vision and progress but also aligns teams and stakeholders around product strategy and priorities. In this post, we'll explore how to leverage ChatGPT prompts to create outstanding product roadmaps. These prompts will help you gather ideas, prioritize features, and present your roadmap in a way that amazes your team and stakeholders.

For more ways to boost your productivity check out our list of top productivity tools for product managers.

What is a product roadmap?

A product roadmap is a visual tool that outlines the vision, direction, and progress of a product over time. It serves as a strategic guide for aligning teams such as executives, engineering, marketing, customer success, and sales around the product's goals and priorities.

Why is a product roadmap important?

For product managers, creating a product roadmap is essential for:

• Communicating vision: Clearly articulating what’s coming next for the product.
• Aligning teams: Ensuring everyone from executives to sales is on the same page.
• Prioritizing features: Deciding which features to build and when.
• Gaining buy-in: Getting support from stakeholders for the planned initiatives.

Key elements of a product roadmap

When building a product roadmap, consider these three main elements:

1. Prioritization of features: Deciding which products or features to prioritize.
2. Timeline: Determining when those products or features will be built.
3. Stakeholders: Identifying who is involved at each stage.

Steps to create a product roadmap

Creating a product roadmap can be broken down into four steps:

1. Define your product strategy: Establish the vision and goals for your product.
2. Add cross-functional stakeholders: Include input from various teams.
3. Prioritize requirements: Organize ideas into themes and prioritize them.
4. Create a timeline: Provide estimates for when different features will be developed.

ChatGPT prompts for product managers

Here are 12 ChatGPT prompts to help you create a comprehensive and engaging product roadmap:

1. Defining product strategy

Prompt: "ChatGPT, suggest a comprehensive product strategy for our new feature based on current market trends and customer feedback."

Example output: "Your product strategy should focus on enhancing user engagement by introducing personalized recommendations, leveraging AI to analyze user behavior, and integrating seamless cross-platform functionality to cater to both mobile and desktop users."

The best way to prioritize features? Advocating for your users and surfacing their feedback. After several iterations here's the user feedback system that works for us at Jam— hope it helps!

Bonus: Jam's co-founder Irtefa has several customers calls every day, so he wrote down 9 things you should never do in a customer call.

2. Gathering ideas from stakeholders

Prompt: "ChatGPT, generate a list of specific questions to ask our engineering, marketing, and sales teams to gather their input for the product roadmap."

Example output: "Questions for Engineering: What are the technical challenges we might face with this new feature? What resources will be required for development? Questions for Marketing: How can we best position this feature in the market? What channels should we use for promotion? Questions for Sales: What feedback have you received from customers about similar features? How can this new feature help in closing deals?"

3. Prioritizing features

Prompt: "ChatGPT, provide a method to prioritize the list of features we have gathered from various stakeholders, considering impact and feasibility."

Example output: "Use the MoSCoW method (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won't-have) to categorize features. Then, create a prioritization matrix where you rate each feature based on impact (high/medium/low) and feasibility (high/medium/low). Focus on high-impact, high-feasibility features first."

4. Creating a timeline

Prompt: "ChatGPT, suggest a realistic timeline for developing and releasing our top three prioritized features, considering typical development cycles and potential bottlenecks."

Example output: "Feature 1: Development (2 months), Testing (1 month), Release (1 month). Feature 2: Development (3 months), Testing (1 month), Release (1 month). Feature 3: Development (1 month), Testing (2 weeks), Release (2 weeks). Consider potential bottlenecks such as dependency on third-party services or resource availability."

5. Communicating the product roadmap

Prompt: "ChatGPT, outline best practices for presenting a product roadmap to executives and other stakeholders, ensuring clarity and engagement."

Example output: "Use a clear, visual format like a Gantt chart or timeline. Highlight key milestones and deliverables. Provide context by linking each feature to strategic business goals. Be prepared to answer questions and provide detailed insights on prioritization and timelines."

6. Aligning with company goals

Prompt: "ChatGPT, help me draft a statement that aligns our product roadmap with the company's overall goals and priorities."

Example output: "Our product roadmap aligns with the company's mission to enhance user experience and drive growth by focusing on innovative features that improve customer engagement and retention. Each milestone is designed to support our strategic goals of increasing market share and achieving operational excellence."

7. Keeping the roadmap flexible

Prompt: "ChatGPT, recommend strategies to keep our product roadmap flexible and adaptable to changes in priorities and market conditions."

Example output: "Implement a quarterly review process to reassess and adjust priorities. Use Agile methodologies to allow for iterative development and rapid pivots. Maintain a buffer in the timeline for unexpected changes. Regularly solicit feedback from stakeholders to ensure alignment with current needs."

8. Updating the roadmap

Prompt: "ChatGPT, advise on the frequency and best practices for updating the product roadmap and communicating changes to the team."

Example output: "Update the product roadmap quarterly or as significant changes occur. Communicate updates through regular meetings and written summaries. Ensure all changes are documented and justified with relevant data. Use collaborative tools to keep the roadmap accessible and visible to all stakeholders."

9. Ensuring stakeholder buy-in

Prompt: "ChatGPT, suggest techniques to gain and maintain stakeholder buy-in for our product roadmap."

Example output: "Involve stakeholders early in the planning process. Clearly communicate the benefits and value of proposed features. Address concerns and incorporate feedback. Regularly update stakeholders on progress and celebrate milestones to keep them engaged."

10. Creating themes for roadmap

Prompt: "ChatGPT, help me organize our product features into strategic themes that align with our overall product strategy."

Example Output: "Organize features into themes such as 'User Engagement,' 'Performance Optimization,' 'New Integrations,' and 'Market Expansion.' Each theme should have specific goals and KPIs linked to the overall product strategy."

11. Estimating development time

Prompt: "ChatGPT, provide a framework for accurately estimating development time for new features, considering potential risks and uncertainties."

Example output: "Use a three-point estimation technique (optimistic, realistic, pessimistic) to account for uncertainties. Break down features into smaller tasks and estimate each task separately. Consider historical data on similar projects to inform your estimates. Include a buffer for unexpected challenges."

12. Setting clear goals

Prompt: "ChatGPT, help me define clear and measurable goals for each stage of our product roadmap."

Example Output: "For each stage, set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. For example, 'Increase user engagement by 20% within the next quarter through the implementation of personalized recommendations and new user onboarding features.'"

Best practices for creating a product roadmap

1. Set clear goals: Define what success looks like for your product.
2. Organize ideas into themes: Group related features together.
3. Involve all stakeholders: Ensure everyone’s input is considered.
4. Regular updates: Keep the roadmap up-to-date with any changes.
5. Communicate effectively: Use visual tools and clear language to present the roadmap.

A product roadmap is a living document that evolves with your product and organization. By using ChatGPT prompts, you can streamline the process of creating and maintaining a product roadmap that truly amazes your team. From defining your product strategy to ensuring stakeholder buy-in, these prompts will help you at every stage of the roadmap creation process.

By following these steps and leveraging ChatGPT prompts, you'll be well on your way to creating a product roadmap that effectively communicates your product vision and strategy to all stakeholders, ensuring alignment and accountability.

Happy roadmap building!