Roadmap
An ordered list of what to build next and later, so good ideas get parked instead of crammed in now.
What it is
A roadmap is the plan for what comes after the current version: features grouped and ordered by priority. It's where new ideas go so they don't derail today's work.
A backlog is the longer, less sorted pile of ideas and requests; the roadmap is the curated, ordered part of it.
Telling your coding agent "add this to the roadmap" is a useful way to capture an idea without expanding the current task.
How to ask for it
“Oh, and we should also have a mobile app at some point.”
“Add a mobile app to the roadmap after team accounts and before integrations. Don't build it now; just write a short description of what it would include.”
Mentioning it in passing risks it being built now or forgotten; "add to the roadmap" parks it deliberately with a priority.
You've seen this in
- TPublic roadmaps on Trello or Linear
- QQuarterly planning decks
- P"Coming soon" sections on product sites