15 Public Roadmap Examples and How They Can Guide Your SaaS Company

A public roadmap is a page where a SaaS company shows users which product features it recently shipped, which are in progress, and which it plans to build next. It gives users a way to track progress and gives your team a shared, high-level view of short-term and long-term goals. Used well, it charts a course that shows employees and users exactly where you are going.

This guide covers what a public product roadmap is, why it pays off, what a good one contains, and 15 public roadmap examples from SaaS companies you can learn from.

Table of Contents

• What Is a Public Roadmap?
• Why Should a SaaS Company Use a Public Product Roadmap?
• What Should a SaaS Product Roadmap Look Like?
• 15 Public Product Roadmap Examples From SaaS Companies
• How to Share a Public Roadmap With AnnounceKit

What Is a Public Roadmap?

A public roadmap is a document, often used by SaaS companies, that outlines both recently released product features and the features the company plans to develop next. A good roadmap shows how you set important milestones and lets users track progress toward them.

A public roadmap defines an organization's overall goals and strategies, including its:

• Strategic priorities
• Key breakthroughs
• Expected results
• Overarching tactics

Public roadmaps help managers run their organizations effectively by directing employees and informing users. Everyone knows where they are going and how to get there. The roadmap also helps everyone involved anticipate potential problems before they arise.

Should My Company Have a Public Roadmap?

Yes. A public roadmap keeps track of what the company is working on, shows the progress being made, and makes it clear whether the work aligns with the overall strategy and vision. Because problems surface at specific stages, work can be revised as needed. It is one of the product management practices that keeps a SaaS team honest about its priorities.

Public roadmaps are also crucial for companies that want to stay transparent with their customers. They give a business a clear way to communicate plans for upcoming releases, which fosters meaningful interactions with customers and builds trust.

Why Should a SaaS Company Use a Public Product Roadmap?

Public roadmap tools keep every team member on a project or SaaS product moving along the same path, aligned on both timing and goals. When the focus changes, teams can be redirected very quickly and the content updated with little effort.

Specific benefits of a public product roadmap include:

• Connecting product teams and users: Public roadmaps are one of the ways you can collect valuable feedback from users. How are customers reacting to a proposed feature? Use that information to guide your path.
• Generating buzz: A public roadmap is a strong SaaS marketing tool because it gets prospective and existing users excited about your product. If people are waiting for a specific feature, or looking for something your competitors do not have, the roadmap lets them know it is coming.
• Demonstrating transparency: If you are willing to show users, investors, and other stakeholders what is going on at every step, they are more likely to trust you.
• Managing expectations: Clear development plans and visible progress keep everyone on the same page about timelines and deliverables.
• Increasing customer engagement: Statistics show that engaged customers spend more money, and public roadmaps invite users to get more active with your brand. When your plan shows that you act on customer feedback, users keep providing it, which creates a positive cycle of user engagement.

What Should a SaaS Product Roadmap Look Like?

The most effective public roadmaps combine the following elements:

• Basic information: A generalized view of prioritized features and user feedback that keeps customers interested in what is coming.
• Simple framework: Straightforward and easy to read, while still containing the pertinent information.
• Aesthetic design: The information is the most important component, but the roadmap should still be something your customers enjoy looking at.
• Communication support: Easy ways for all stakeholders to give feedback and prioritize their concerns.

AnnounceKit offers a variety of tools that help SaaS companies communicate product updates and news to their customers, increase feature adoption, and build customer trust.

Quick Setup, Easy To Use, and Many Integrations

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across multiple channels

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15 Public Product Roadmap Examples From SaaS Companies

Here are some of our current favorite public roadmaps and what we like about each one. Use this list for ideas when you build your own.

1. Slack: Short-Term, Mid-Term, and Long-Term Goals on One Page

Slack has a public roadmap that is simple, straightforward, and easy for users to understand. A dedicated section explains exactly what customers are looking at. The roadmap covers short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals as well as features that have already been released.

2. GitHub: Organized by Quarter

GitHub organizes its roadmap by quarters, which gives users a clearer view of what to expect and when. It is very detailed and includes a key that helps users understand the references.

3. Loom: Features Split by Theme and Status

Loom's roadmap is simple and straightforward. There is not a lot of information for users to wade through, which makes it easy to understand.

Features are split by theme so users can focus on what interests them most. Note the tabs, which let everyone see what is coming soon, what is still under construction, and what has already launched.

4. Trello: Built With Its Own Product

Trello uses its own product to create an engaging public roadmap with colorful images and plenty of information about previous releases. The latest version also adds filtering so users can find exactly what they want.

5. Lasso: Transparent Product Development

Lasso wants to support transparent product development for all users. It streamlines the feedback process and updates all stakeholders as products are updated.

6. Buffer: Four Clear Categories

Buffer gives users a clear view of what it is working on and what is coming next with four categories:

1. Exploring
2. In Progress
3. Done!
4. Leaving It for Now

Buffer also provides a handy guide that shows customers the best ways to use the roadmap.

7. ClickUp: A Visual View of the Whole Year

This visually appealing roadmap helps ClickUp users see what is coming throughout the year, and it recaps past improvements as well.

8. Monzo: Live Updates and Stretch Goals

Monzo believes a company can only improve if it shares developments with its community and gathers feedback as it builds. Its public roadmap offers extra information about stretch goals and gives live updates about what is happening with the product right now.

9. Channex: Labeled by Service Category

Channex uses its public roadmap to show ideas and plans that affect all users, and it clearly labels which category of service each one falls under.

10. Gorgias: Upvotes on Planned Ideas

Gorgias adds images to customer ideas that reach the planned phase to keep things engaging. It also encourages feedback by letting users upvote the features it is working on, a pattern you can reproduce with feature request software.

11. Attendify: Honest About What Gets Built

The focus of Attendify's public roadmap is to unlock the value of event engagement data. Because data is such an important part of the platform, the team shares what it is researching and estimates that around 20% of those features will actually be built.

12. Courier: Detailed and Categorized

Courier pairs eye-catching images with a great level of detail for recently released and upcoming features. The snippets are divided into categories for easier management and user access.

13. Eden: No Detail Too Small, Plus an Ideas Section

Eden believes no detail is too small to share with its users. This may be one of the most complex public roadmaps you will see. The company also added a separate Ideas section where users upvote suggested features, which adds an extra layer of organization.

14. ArborXR: Screenshot-Heavy Updates

Since ArborXR helps users manage AR and VR content, its customers appreciate a highly visual public roadmap. Updates feature impactful screenshots with just the right amount of meaningful detail to keep users informed. The team also lists the same feature in multiple categories so it stays visible to anyone who uses it.

15. SPARK: Simple and Clear, With Update Subscriptions

The SaaS-based lending platform SPARK keeps its public roadmap simple and clear. It also lets you subscribe to the specific updates you care about most so you can follow their progress.

How to Share a Public Roadmap With AnnounceKit

At AnnounceKit, we decide which features to improve by following the expectations of our business clients and their users and applying a variety of metrics.

AnnounceKit makes it easy for SaaS businesses to share completed developments or important news with users, from product announcements to the public roadmap feature. The roadmap helps you share what you are working on now and what is coming next.

Here is an example of how we might use a roadmap to share planned new features with our users, creating a visual representation of our work.

By creating a roadmap and sharing it with project members, SaaS companies avoid miscommunication and increase overall project success rates, creating shared understanding every step of the way.

Ready to take the next step? Contact us today to get started with the public roadmap feature and the rest of the tools we provide to make SaaS businesses better.

Quick Setup, Easy To Use, and Many Integrations

Manage your product announcements from a single place and easily distribute them

across multiple channels

Go to Website