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Now-Next-Later is a roadmap format built around a simple truth: you know a lot about what you’re working on right now, less about what comes after that, and very little about anything beyond the next few months. The format makes that honest 📅 It was popularised by Janna Bastow (co-founder of ProdPad) as a direct alternative to the date-driven roadmap - and it’s become the default format for product teams that want to communicate direction without making promises they can’t keep.

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The three horizons

Now - what the team is actively working on. This is specific and committed. Features, outcomes, initiatives currently in progress or about to start. Next - what’s coming after that. Directional but not fully defined. The problem space is understood, discovery may be underway, but the solution isn’t locked. Later - everything else on the horizon. Intentionally vague. These are areas of interest or strategic bets, not scheduled work. They should change as you learn. The discipline is resisting the urge to make Next and Later as specific as Now. Vagueness in the right places is a feature 💡

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Why it works better than date-driven roadmaps

Date-driven roadmaps create false certainty. They imply you know what you’ll build and when - which almost never holds true once discovery starts and reality intervenes. Teams end up either missing dates or shipping the wrong thing on time. Now-Next-Later reflects how product work actually flows. Priorities shift. Discovery surfaces better solutions. The format accommodates that without embarrassing anyone 🙌

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Pairing it with outcomes

The format gets more powerful when the items are outcomes rather than features. “Improve activation for new enterprise users” in the Next column gives the team room to discover the best solution. “Add bulk CSV import” locks them into one. This connects directly to how Marty Cagan frames team empowerment in Empowered - missionaries, not mercenaries. Lesson learned: the first time I switched a stakeholder presentation from a Gantt chart to a Now-Next-Later board, someone in the room said “finally, something honest.” That was the moment I stopped going back.