Now/Next/Later Roadmap

Use this when a PM needs a clean, stakeholder-ready roadmap divided into Now, Next, and Later, with explicit rationale and uncertainty handling. Optionally generate a branded presentation deck and share it via Slack, Miro, Notion, or other collaboration tools.

Related resources: nnl-roadmap-workshop-guide.md -- facilitation guide for building a NNL roadmap with your team in 60-90 minutes (standalone, printable).

Brand reference

For branded visual outputs, see brand tokens.

Process

Step 1: Gather inputs

Ask the user:

1. Product area and audience for the roadmap (team-only, leadership, client, board)
2. Time horizon (e.g., current quarter + next quarter)
3. Top outcomes to drive (2-4 measurable outcomes)
4. Candidate initiatives or problem statements (usually 6-15 items)
5. Evidence and confidence for each item (research, metrics, customer feedback, delivery data)
6. Constraints and dependencies (capacity, deadlines, external teams, legal/compliance)
7. Do you want a branded presentation? Options:
   • Markdown only (default) — the roadmap stays in conversation or is saved as a file
   • PDF slide deck — branded PDF via Marp
   • Presentation (Google Slides) — generated via Gamma, exported as PPTX
   • Multiple — any combination
8. Where should the roadmap be shared? Options:
   • Conversation only (default) — copy and share manually
   • Slack — post to a Slack channel
   • Miro board — create a document on a Miro board
   • FigJam — generate a visual roadmap diagram
   • Notion — create as a Notion page
   • Multiple — any combination

If the user gives partial input, proceed with what is available and list assumptions explicitly.

Step 2: Identify which personas are affected

Before scoring and placing items, prompt the user:

Persona check: Which user persona(s) does each candidate initiative serve? If you have defined personas (e.g., from /persona-create or /persona-draft), name them. If not, describe the key user types briefly — their role, goals, and what makes them distinct.

Are any personas underrepresented in the candidate list? Gaps in persona coverage may reveal missing initiatives or signal that the roadmap skews toward one user type.

This ensures the roadmap reflects deliberate persona coverage rather than defaulting to the loudest stakeholder's priorities.

Step 3: Normalize and score items

For each candidate item, summarize:

• Outcome link: which outcome this item supports
• Confidence: High/Medium/Low based on evidence quality
• Effort signal: S/M/L relative estimate
• Dependency risk: None/Manageable/High

If an item has weak outcome linkage, move it to a "Not prioritized yet" list instead of forcing it into the roadmap.

Step 4: Place into Now, Next, Later

Use these placement rules:

• Now: high outcome relevance, enough confidence to execute soon, dependencies mostly clear
• Next: likely important soon, but still needs validation, discovery, or dependency resolution
• Later: directional bets or lower-priority opportunities with high uncertainty

Never present Next or Later as date-certain commitments. Use confidence-oriented language.

When placing items, consider persona coverage across lanes — if all Now items serve the same persona and other personas are unaddressed until Later, flag this as a potential gap.

Step 5: Generate the roadmap

Use the roadmap template to produce the full roadmap. Output in this structure:

---

Now/Next/Later Roadmap: (Product or initiative name)

Audience: (audience) Time horizon: (horizon) Last updated: (date)

Outcomes we are optimizing for

• (Outcome 1 + metric)
• (Outcome 2 + metric)

Now

Item	Outcome Link	Why Now	Confidence	Key Dependency
(Item)	(Outcome)	(Rationale)	High/Med/Low	(Dependency)

Next

Item	Outcome Link	What Must Be True First	Confidence	Key Dependency
(Item)	(Outcome)	(Validation/dependency condition)	High/Med/Low	(Dependency)

Later

Item	Outcome Link	Why Later	Confidence	Trigger to Revisit
(Item)	(Outcome)	(Reason)	High/Med/Low	(Event or metric)

Not prioritized yet

• (Item) — (why not now)

Risks and watchpoints

• (Top risk)
• (Dependency or resource risk)

Decisions needed

• (Decision owner) — (decision) — (target date)

---

Step 6: Review

Ask the user:

• Which item feels miscategorized?
• Where are we overconfident?
• Which dependencies could invalidate this order?
• Do you want a leadership version (higher-level) or delivery version (more detailed)?

Revise based on feedback. The roadmap text is finalized before generating any visual outputs.

Step 7: Generate branded presentation (optional)

If the user requested a presentation in Step 1, generate it now. The markdown roadmap from Step 4 is the source of truth — presentations are produced from it.

Follow the visual output addon for detailed instructions. Roadmap-specific guidance below:

PDF slide deck (Path A)

Use the roadmap slides template as the structure guide. This produces a 7-slide branded deck:

1. Title slide — roadmap name, audience, time horizon, date
2. Outcomes — the 2-4 outcomes being optimized for, with metrics
3. Now — table of Now items with rationale and confidence
4. Next — table of Next items with preconditions and confidence
5. Later — table of Later items with triggers to revisit
6. Risks & Decisions — watchpoints and pending decisions
7. Closing — summary card with lane counts and key dates

Save the Marp markdown to ./output/decks/(roadmap-name)-roadmap.md and generate PDF + HTML per the addon instructions.

Presentation via Gamma (Path B)

Prepare the roadmap content as a slide-by-slide outline following the same 7-slide structure above. Use textMode: "preserve" since the content is already structured. Set numCards: 7 and exportAs: "pptx".

Step 8: Share and distribute (optional)

If the user requested distribution in Step 1, share the roadmap through their chosen channel(s).

Slack (via MCP)

Post the roadmap to a Slack channel. Format as a well-structured message:

1. Ask for the channel if not already known:

   "Which Slack channel should I post the roadmap to?"

2. Use slack_search_channels to find the channel ID if the user provides a name.
3. Format the message as a scannable summary:
   • Roadmap title, audience, time horizon
   • Now items (bulleted, with confidence indicators)
   • Next items (bulleted, with preconditions)
   • Later items (bulleted, with triggers)
   • Link to full artifact if saved as a file or Notion page
4. Post via slack_send_message — ask for confirmation before sending.

If the roadmap is lengthy, consider posting a summary message and attaching the full roadmap as a Slack Canvas (slack_create_canvas).

Miro board (via MCP)

Post the full roadmap markdown to the user's Miro board:

1. Ask for the Miro board URL if not already provided.
2. Use doc_create with the roadmap markdown as content.
3. Tell the user the document has been created on their board.

Alternatively, create a Miro table showing the roadmap lanes as rows with columns for Item, Outcome, Confidence, and Dependencies.

FigJam diagram (via MCP)

Generate a visual roadmap as a Mermaid.js flowchart showing:

• Three swim lanes (Now → Next → Later) as connected groups
• Items as nodes within each lane
• Dependency arrows between items
• Confidence indicators as node colors (green=High, yellow=Medium, red=Low)

Use LR direction. This complements the full roadmap document as a structural overview.

Notion (via MCP)

Create the roadmap as a Notion page:

1. Ask where in Notion — which page or database should it go under?
2. Use notion-create-pages with the roadmap markdown as content and a clear title.
3. If the user wants a database view, use notion-create-database to create a roadmap database with columns: Item, Lane (Now/Next/Later), Outcome Link, Confidence, Dependency.

Confluence (via MCP)

If a Confluence MCP connector is available:

• Create a page with the roadmap content
• If not connected, use search_mcp_registry with keywords ["confluence", "atlassian"] and suggest the connector

Google Docs (via MCP)

If a Google Docs MCP connector is available:

• Create a document with the roadmap content
• If not connected, use search_mcp_registry with keywords ["google docs", "google drive"] and suggest the connector

After sharing: Confirm where the roadmap was posted and share relevant links.

Related skills

• /artium-deck — standalone branded slide deck creation (used by Step 6)
• /persona-create — create personas to inform roadmap decisions
• /rice-score — score items using RICE framework before placing into lanes
• /jtbd-analysis — connect roadmap items to jobs-to-be-done
• /prd-draft — write PRDs for Now items that need more detail
• /story-write — break Now items into executable user stories
• Visual output addon — shared module for generating branded visual artifacts

Output locations

Format	Location	Notes
Markdown	Conversation or saved file	Always produced. Source of truth.
PDF	./output/decks/(roadmap-name)-roadmap.pdf	Via Marp. Also generates .html preview.
Gamma/PPTX	Gamma URL	Download PPTX for Google Slides.
Slack	User's specified channel	Via Slack MCP. Summary or Canvas.
Miro doc	User's specified Miro board	Via Miro MCP.
FigJam diagram	FigJam	Roadmap flow diagram. Mermaid.js flowchart.
Notion page	User's specified Notion location	Via Notion MCP. Page or database.