Now / next / later

The now / next / later format (popularized in product ops circles and Janna Bastow's work on roadmapping) communicates sequence and uncertainty without fake dates. Put outcomes at the top of each column and initiatives underneath. "Now: Activation ≥ 30% for teams created this quarter" beats "Now: Checklist v2, Email digests, Dark mode."

Avoid putting calendar dates on Later. For Now, use ranges ("this quarter") rather than day-level promises unless you have a hard external constraint (regulation, contract, conference).

The big idea

Update the board when reality changes. A roadmap that still shows last quarter's Now items as Now teaches everyone to ignore it. Move finished work off; promote Next only when staffed; demote when a bet fails its kill criteria. The artifact is a living map, not a poster.

Who sees which view? Executives often need themes and outcomes; eng needs bets and dependencies; sales needs committed vs exploratory clearly labeled. One underlying roadmap can power two or three views — do not maintain three conflicting sources of truth in different slides.

Stakeholders often hear "outcomes" as evasion. Bridge the gap: give milestones ("discovery readout by Apr 10; go/no-go on build") even when you will not give a GA date yet. Separate confidence: Now items high confidence on problem, medium on solution. Share kill criteria: "If the template experiment does not lift activation by 5pp in two weeks, we stop." For external customers, use tiers: committed (in contract), likely (Now/Next), exploring (Later). Never let sales paste Later items into a contract.

When several squads share a product, a single flat board becomes a mess. Theme-based columns (Now is company themes; teams nest bets under them) or team swimlanes with a shared outcome header both work if you limit WIP. Keep a dependency board beside the roadmap for identity, billing and design-system blockers.

Walking through it

Sales wants a date for SSO. Put enterprise readiness in Next, with SSO as the leading candidate and a two-week security-review decision point. Later can hold "audit log" as a theme with no date. If a deal requires SSO in a contract, it moves to Now as a committed slice — and you show what it displaces.

Common mistakes

• Dates on Later. You just made a promise you will not staff.
• Three slide decks that disagree. One underlying board, several views.
• Stale Now. Last quarter's work still in Now trains people to ignore the map.

Check yourself

1. Why keep dates off Later?

Later is unstaffed possibility. A date turns it into a promise sales will paste into a contract.

2. A template experiment does not lift activation 5pp in two weeks. What should the board do?

Hit the kill criteria: demote or stop the bet, do not leave it in Now out of inertia.

Key takeaways

• Now is staffed, Next may reorder, Later is a theme — not a date.
• Outcomes on top, bets underneath; update the board when reality changes.
• One source of truth; views for execs, eng and sales; never let Later into a contract.

Further learning

SVPG articles — Marty CaganA partnership dedicated to teaching best practices to product teams and product leadersSilicon Valley Product Group

Next on the map: roadmaps, then writing OKRs.