Product roadmaps vs. backlogs—what’s the difference?

Product management is an intricate role in which success depends on multiple strategies and processes. Every product manager has to find their path to success, and there are many variables. But, using proven methods for development and tracking can help make your successes more frequent and significant.

Product roadmaps and product backlogs are an integral part of any product manager’s journey. These two important tools, while very different, are extremely useful. But what are the differences between them? Let’s find out.

A product roadmap is a high-level tool that enables you to communicate your strategic goals and plans for a product. It serves as a plan of action to guide the product through its entire lifecycle—from its development to its release and eventual growth.

A product roadmap is helpful for internal team members, including developers and team leaders, and external stakeholders, such as those who provide funding for the product or company.

A product backlog is a more granular and tactical tool that lists the details necessary to execute the larger strategic plan.

Its main function is to direct the product development team. It enables them to track their progress over time and easily identify tasks to prioritize versus tasks to push further down the line.

Here are some of the tasks often included in a product backlog:

• Bug fixes

• Application updates

• Product stories

With the roadmap offering a high-level view and the backlog providing a helpful depth of detail, it’s easy to see why you should incorporate both of these tools into your strategy as a product manager.

However, there are several differences between product backlogs and product roadmaps.

Granularity and focus

While the product roadmap is a high-level look at themes, goals, and strategies, the product backlog is a highly detailed tool that captures specific, actionable items. This detail is important as it allows members of the development team to know exactly what to focus on each day.

The roadmap can include some data points, but it’s primarily focused on the broader product and corporate vision.

The time horizon

The product roadmap can encompass a span of many months to a year, while a backlog is focused on a shorter time frame—typically a few weeks to a month.

This difference in time horizon is because the product backlog focuses on actionable tasks while the roadmap is tailored to the product’s overall evolution.

Stakeholder communication

While both a roadmap and a backlog can be useful in terms of stakeholder communication, only the roadmap is truly useful for external stakeholders. The roadmap is helpful for everyone from marketing teams and investors to high-level executives, conveying the product’s vision, timeline, and planned features.

The backlog, on the other hand, is primarily for internal communication. It’s perfect for team members who are actively working on developing and releasing the product.

Role in decision-making

Both the product backlog and roadmap are helpful in decision-making—but for different teams.

The product backlog is an active timeline of what the development team can choose to work on, including what tasks are next on the docket and what the priority of each task is. Meanwhile, the product roadmap can inform high-level decision-making, such as what features are worthy of investment and how resources should be allocated within the organization.

Both a roadmap and a backlog are designed to be adaptable. These tools can and should be changed over time, based on what the market does and what customers have to say. Stay dynamic and open to making tweaks so that you can stay adaptable and current.

The roadmap and backlog should closely intertwine with the company’s overall goals and objectives. Both of these tools should focus on goals—from the long-term product goals to the daily objectives assigned to your developers.

Finally, both the roadmap and backlog should be designed to support the big picture. You can involve stakeholders and other company leaders to ensure alignment.

The product roadmap and backlog serve different purposes, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be closely integrated. By integrating the software for your roadmap with the document or tool you use for your backlog, your team can become more organized and aligned.

For example, you don’t want to risk pulling up an outdated document and presenting it to company stakeholders. When both documents are up to date due to integration, you don’t have to worry about that—nor do you have to fear that your team will prioritize the wrong tasks.

Suppose you’re presenting the roadmap to stakeholders and you need to provide more granular information about a product. To do this, you can switch to the backlog easily and seamlessly. But, for this to work, both tools must be integrated and up to date. This will impress those you’re meeting with and make it easier to demonstrate your talking points.

It’s important to know your progress at all times, and you’ll be well-prepared to give a fast answer when your roadmap and backlog are integrated.

Ultimately, by keeping your backlog and roadmap integrated and on point, you’ll set yourself up for enhanced organization and a better chance of meeting project goals.

While specific timing differs from one organization to the next, it’s a good idea to regularly update your product backlog. Many tasks in the backlog are completed daily. Plan to update the backlog every time the team completes a task, sets an old task aside, or generates a new idea.

As for the product roadmap, while you’ll probably update it less often than the backlog, it should be given a refresh whenever the product’s vision or overall strategy changes.

Typically, the product manager will make these changes—but you can appoint someone else on your team to assist with the updates if necessary. Either way, be sure to check in on both the roadmap and backlog frequently so you can be sure they are up-to-date and accurate.

Many product managers find it helpful to update the roadmap and backlog after major meetings or town halls, circulating the documents with the appropriate team members after the updates are made.

To make the most of your product backlog and roadmap, try to keep both tools concise.

You might be tempted to include a catalog of every idea in your backlog—even those not yet in the pipeline. However, you should keep tasks and communications focused on high-priority items and use language everyone can understand, including stakeholders.

Equally, while backlogs exist primarily for internal team members, try not to use overly complicated or technical language.

Also, avoid the temptation to make your product backlog a wish list. You want to include features that are essential for performance and customer satisfaction—not “nice to haves.” This approach could lead to a backlog that is too big and unwieldy to manage, as well as a poor user experience.

Streamlined efficiency and concise language will take you far, especially when presenting your backlog and roadmap to external stakeholders and anyone else outside your organization.

In most organizations, a product manager will own the product roadmap. However, there might be multiple contributors to the roadmap, including product developers and members of the marketing team. Executives and high-level managers will likely want to contribute to the roadmap as well.

A product roadmap might feature a general timeline, but it isn’t a detailed project schedule. A project schedule is focused on the specifics of one project and will include details on launch dates and development goalposts.

You and your team would develop your product roadmap well before the product backlog. This is because it features the product strategy and overall vision.

The product backlog comes after the roadmap and includes the technical details developers and internal employees need to refine a product’s features and applications.