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Roadmapping vs Waterfall Planning

Developers should learn roadmapping to effectively contribute to product strategy, prioritize technical debt, and align development work with business goals, especially in agile or cross-functional teams meets developers should use waterfall planning for projects with well-defined, stable requirements, such as government contracts, safety-critical systems, or large-scale infrastructure where regulatory compliance is key. Here's our take.

🧊Nice Pick

Roadmapping

Developers should learn roadmapping to effectively contribute to product strategy, prioritize technical debt, and align development work with business goals, especially in agile or cross-functional teams

Roadmapping

Nice Pick

Developers should learn roadmapping to effectively contribute to product strategy, prioritize technical debt, and align development work with business goals, especially in agile or cross-functional teams

Pros

  • +It is crucial for roles like product managers, engineering leads, and senior developers to use roadmapping when planning software releases, managing large-scale projects, or communicating progress to stakeholders, as it fosters transparency and reduces misalignment
  • +Related to: agile-methodologies, project-management

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Waterfall Planning

Developers should use Waterfall Planning for projects with well-defined, stable requirements, such as government contracts, safety-critical systems, or large-scale infrastructure where regulatory compliance is key

Pros

  • +It's suitable when stakeholders need predictable timelines and budgets, and when changes during development are costly or impractical, as it reduces ambiguity through thorough documentation
  • +Related to: project-management, requirements-analysis

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Roadmapping if: You want it is crucial for roles like product managers, engineering leads, and senior developers to use roadmapping when planning software releases, managing large-scale projects, or communicating progress to stakeholders, as it fosters transparency and reduces misalignment and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Waterfall Planning if: You prioritize it's suitable when stakeholders need predictable timelines and budgets, and when changes during development are costly or impractical, as it reduces ambiguity through thorough documentation over what Roadmapping offers.

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The Bottom Line
Roadmapping wins

Developers should learn roadmapping to effectively contribute to product strategy, prioritize technical debt, and align development work with business goals, especially in agile or cross-functional teams

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