XY Learn · Value Creation
Product Backlog & Roadmap
A roadmap is a sequence of bets, each with a value driver attached.
Δ Product
Duration
2 days
Hours
8 hours (4 hours/day)
Delivery
Online, live cohort or private team
Who it's for
Product managers, founders, delivery leads
The hook
Most roadmaps are a wish list with dates. A roadmap should be a portfolio of bets ranked by the value they move.
Intent · Convert an unranked backlog into a driver-ranked, evidence-backed roadmap with sizing confidence and explicit trade-offs.
Take this if
Six signals you are leaking this value
01
Backlog is 400 items and nobody prunes
02
Priority is decided by the loudest stakeholder
03
Estimates are fiction; dates slip quietly
04
No link between a release and a business outcome
05
Discovery and delivery run as separate universes
06
AI features prioritised by hype, not value
About the course
We rebuild the backlog around outcomes: theme → epic → feature → story, each mapped to the value driver it moves and the evidence that justifies it.
Prioritisation uses real methods — $100 test, MoSCoW, KANO, weighted scoring, cost of delay — and sizing uses confidence bands rather than false precision.
2026 additions: continuous discovery cadence, opportunity solution trees, AI-assisted backlog triage, and outcome-based roadmap communication for boards.
Tools you will use
- Opportunity solution tree
- WSJF scorer
- Uncertainty funnel
- Now/Next/Later template
Prerequisite
Bring your current backlog, however messy.
Curriculum
What we cover, hour by hour
01 · Structure
- Product vision and outcome hierarchy
- Theme, epic, feature, story, sub-story
- Definition of ready and acceptance criteria
- Mapping items to value drivers
02 · Prioritisation
- $100 test, MoSCoW, KANO, weighted average
- Cost of delay and WSJF
- Opportunity solution trees from discovery evidence
- Saying no — the deprecation lane
03 · Sizing and sequencing
- T-shirt sizing and the uncertainty funnel
- Confidence bands: 20% / 50% / 80%
- Release plan, risk-to-ship, dependency mapping
- Now / Next / Later roadmap that boards can read
Key takeaways
- A pruned, driver-mapped backlog
- A prioritisation method the team trusts
- Sizing with honest confidence bands
- An outcome-based roadmap artefact
You leave with
- Restructured backlog
- Prioritisation model
- Release plan with risk-to-ship
- Board roadmap
Measured value
The numbers this course is meant to move
| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| Roadmap-to-driver coverage | 100% of committed items mapped |
| Delivery predictability | > 80% of committed scope shipped per cycle |
| Backlog age | No item older than 2 quarters unreviewed |
Run this with your team
Cohort seats or a private team session — 8 hours (4 hours/day), delivered online and applied to your own venture.
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