Don’t Build a Monster: How to Create a Unified Product Roadmap

One of the most commonly cited numbers when it comes to product development is that around 95% of products fail. There are tons of reasons for this, many of which are preventable. This could be due to poor user research, bad user experience or UI, the product may not be solving a customer pain point, it could be too pricey, the customer support may be poor, or the product couldn’t compete in the market. Or maybe the cost of production couldn’t be covered by the revenue generated by the product during the product lifecycle. 

An often overlooked reason for product failure is that teams inadvertently create what we call a “Frankenstein product.”  These apps are as scary as they sound and are usually the result of a poor product roadmap or a product development strategy. 

Read on to learn how it happens, and what you can do to prevent it from happening to you. 

What is a Frankenstein product?

When the final result of the product development process appears like it was roughly put together by combining parts and elements that don’t fit together seamlessly, you have a Frankenstein product. (Yes, we know, Frankenstein’s monster, not Frankenstein). 

In a Frankenstein product, you have a lot of features put together in a manner that doesn’t make sense to the user. In the case of a Frankenstein app, you may even have features that users desperately need, but don’t even know it exists because they couldn’t find it. 

For a physical product, it could be a solution that doesn’t have a problem or a product without robust customer support. It could be a smart lamp with a mobile app requiring users to go through ten steps every time they need to turn it on. 

When a product appears to be put together without a clear plan or without all the elements fitting together, users get confused and/or are unable to use it well. The result? Low adoption rates and product failure. 

What creates a Frankenstein product?  No product roadmap.

Frankenstein products are usually the result of poor planning or a lack of a product roadmap. 

Without a roadmap, there’s no clear picture among the stakeholders and decision-makers as to what the product should be and how it should get there. They don’t know which features to add and when to add them, when to set up proper supply chains, production lines, and customer support, or even a clear timeline from design to launch.

Everyone just knows they’re building a product with a very vague idea of what it should be. 

The result? The team just keeps adding features based on random inputs. It could be the product manager ‘feeling’ that an app needs messaging capabilities or users saying that they need a payment portal or one of the developers thinking that an IoT product needs a highly customizable UI. 

The absence of a product roadmap usually plays out in two ways: 

One: the team builds whatever customers are asking for ignoring the product roadmap

Of course, a product development team that cannot deliver what the customers need will not survive for long. But when the only focus is what the customers are asking without considering how it fits into the broader context of the app, you get a product with features that don’t play well with the rest. 

For instance, imagine you’re building a drag-and-drop website designer. One of your users says they need a solution to showcase their Twitter (X) feed on their website and you rush to build it. After a couple of weeks, another customer says they want to showcase their Instagram feed and you build that. Later someone asks for showcasing their Facebook and LinkedIn posts and you rush to add that as well. 

The end result is that your product has all of these features, but they’re all placed in different corners or menus in your app. 

If you had a solid product strategy, you would have built a feature that allows users to link all of their social channels to their website. Instead, new users who see an option to add their LinkedIn posts keep asking you for a similar Facebook newsfeed plugin without knowing that it already exists. 

This may seem a bit far-fetched, but LunarLab once worked on an app where the development team spent tons of resources on a feature that users wanted. But after the launch, nobody was using it, even though people kept asking for the same feature. The reason was that nobody could find this feature because it didn’t fit well with the rest of the app. The team eventually had to scrap the entire feature and add it back in a more cohesive way… but only after months of hearing from unhappy customers.

Two: the product development team scrambles to add many different features quickly

The team may have a list of features that they want on the product or they may come up with features throughout the development life cycle. But when they don’t have a product roadmap, they may end up adding them haphazardly. 

Prioritizing feature development should take into account user needs, resources needed for development, the revenue model for the product, and even how the users may learn to use the app. But instead of staying laser-focused on cohesive development planning, many teams often develop one feature first, a completely disconnected feature second, and an irrelevant UI change the third. 

The result is that the total product is less than the sum of its parts. Individual features work fairly well, but they don’t form one cohesive product. The result? Shipping delays, security issues, poor customer satisfaction, poor usability, low retention rates, and ultimately a failed product. 

How to avoid building a monster

If you’ve worked in product development, you must have seen your fair share of Frankenstein products. How do you prevent your project from turning into a bunch of disconnected features users can’t use?

Let’s have a look. 

Create a great product roadmap with a solid product strategy behind it 

Before you begin product development, start with a clear and concise roadmap showcasing how and when you’ll develop each feature.  Each item on the roadmap should be connected to your overall product strategy, and you should prioritize features based on how much value they’ll bring to the entire customer base (not just one or two support tickets that have been submitted).  Build the highest value features first, then work your way towards lower value features.  Make sure there are no overlaps, and each item makes sense in context with other items.  Every feature you add should support your company’s goals…  if it doesn’t, cut it!

Don’t just build every feature that clients ask for. 

When you get a feature request, figure out why they want it and if it will benefit your user base. If not, explore if users can meet their needs with an existing feature, or by slightly modifying it. If you decide to include that feature, ensure it fits into the overall roadmap.

Remember that you cannot say yes to all features and that some features just aren’t a good fit. 

Slow down and be methodical about your decision-making. Slow and steady creates a solid product development process. 

Before building a feature or even building the roadmap, take your time to explore the competition, understand the users, the overall goal for the product, user points, and how you can bring together the entire product. 

For big feature sets, see if users need them with user research

User research can help prevent huge losses by spending a ton of resources on features nobody wants. While it may seem easier to build what feels right intuitively, keep in mind that the development team is rarely the user. User research can help the team get into the users’s shoes, and understand their pain points, and what will work for them. 

Consider bringing on a professional designer to help make sure you’re building a consistent experience across the board

A professional UX designer (especially one with product strategy experience) can help ensure that users can access and use the features well and that all the features tie into the overall goals of your business. When you bring in someone, it’s best to bring them into the whole project so they have a full picture of the desired outcomes, instead of asking them to design for only a few screens.  Make sure they understand your business goals, your users’ goals, and a clear picture of how the overall app works.

Communicate changes to everyone on the development team. 

Even if they’re not directly involved at the stage. For instance, if you’re building a mobile app, you need to bring in the testing team from day one, you cannot wait for developers to finish. And you need to bring in developers even when you’re working on the wireframes. 

Everyone in your team will have different roles and they can offer you insights to build the roadmap. Make sure they know what you’re building, why you’re building it, and who you’re building it for. 

Even if you’re making changes to the product or adding new features, communicate it early with everyone and give them a chance to ask questions. 

Incorporate iterative feedback loops in the product development lifecycle

Build, test, launch, get feedback, analyze, and then back to build. 

Don’t design by committee

Don’t try to bring everyone’s vision onto one single product. Have a unified vision that meets the needs of everyone. 

How to recover if you’re already in this situation

Okay, you have a Frankenstein situation on your hands. Don’t worry, not all is lost. 

Here’s what you should do. 

Audit the features of your app and decide what needs to stay and what needs to go

Maybe some features are redundant, maybe some have to be repositioned or redesigned, and there may be some features nobody is using. An audit can help you decide which features to keep, which to modify, and which to discard. 

Conduct usability testing with your users to find out what’s working and what’s confusing.

Internal tests can only tell you so much about usability. Bring in your users, conduct extensive testing, and figure out what’s working for them, and what is not. Features that your internal team finds interesting may not even be useful to actual users. 

Review any customer feedback 

Customer feedback can offer incredible insights into how users feel about your app and its features. It can help you offer insights to prioritize new features and fix issues. 

If you’re not collecting user feedback, start today!

Align with your team and stakeholders on a shared vision of success for your app.

Ensure everyone is on the same page about the goal of the product and how it should serve the users.

Consider a redesign 

You don’t have to redesign everything. Talk to your users, and find out what they value, what they can’t access, and what they don’t know exists. When redesigning, make sure your new design fits seamlessly with the rest of your product.