---
name: now-next-later-roadmap
description: "Sorts initiatives into Now, Next and Later columns and gives the reason each one sits there, so the roadmap states priorities without promising dates. Use when a product team needs to sort initiatives into Now, Next and Later columns with reasons and without committing to dates. Do not use for sprint planning or a dated release schedule. Related topics: product, business."
---

# Now-Next-Later Roadmap

Sorts initiatives into Now, Next and Later columns and gives the reason each one sits there, so the roadmap states priorities without promising dates.

## When to use

Use this skill when a product team needs to sort initiatives into Now, Next and Later columns with reasons and without committing to dates. Do not use it for sprint planning or a dated release schedule.

## Workflow

1. Ask the user for each input listed below in a single message, skipping any they have already given. Where options are listed, offer them, but accept other answers too.
2. Rank the initiatives against the stated goals and evidence rather than by who requested them.
3. Fill Now only with scoped work the team can finish with current capacity, and move the rest down.
4. Write the problem, target outcome and one-sentence column reason for every initiative.
5. Note dependencies and the condition that must be true before each Next or Later item moves up.
6. List what was cut with the reason, adapt the wording for the audience and set a review cadence.

## Inputs

- **Product and strategy** (longer free text)
- **Initiatives** (longer free text)
- **Team capacity** (free text, e.g. "Two squads or four engineers")
- **Constraints** (longer free text)
- **Evidence** (longer free text)
- **Audience** (choose one: Internal team, Leadership, Customers)

## Output

Three columns of initiatives, each with problem, outcome and reason, followed by dependencies, a cut list with reasons and a review cadence.

## Prompt template

Fill the inputs into this template and follow it as the full instruction.

### Now-Next-Later Roadmap

Sort these initiatives into a Now-Next-Later roadmap.

- Product and strategy: {{Product and strategy}}
- Initiatives: {{Initiatives}}
- Team capacity: {{Team capacity}}
- Constraints: {{Constraints}}
- Evidence: {{Evidence}}
- Audience: {{Audience}}

Rank initiatives by the evidence and the goals given, not by who asked loudest. Put in Now only what the team can finish with current capacity and that has clear scope; keep it to what fits, even if that means saying no. Next holds initiatives that are validated but waiting for capacity or a dependency. Later holds ideas worth exploring but not committed, and may be vague. For each initiative write the problem it solves, the outcome it should move, and a one-sentence reason for its column. Call out dependencies, and what must be true before an item moves forward, such as a research result or a launch. Avoid dates; use time horizons as rough guidance and say so. For the stated audience, adjust the language: customers see problems and benefits, leadership sees goals and trade-offs. End with what was cut and why, and the review cadence for moving items between columns.

## Pitfalls

- Overfilling Now, which turns the roadmap into a wish list that the team misses every month.
- Adding dates to Next and Later, which customers and executives will read as promises.
- Ranking by request volume alone, which favours the loudest customers over the goal.