Turning features into themes and initiatives

A roadmap should not be a catalogue of features. Features describe isolated solutions, while themes and initiatives organize work around broader goals. A theme is a high level area of focus, such as onboarding, performance, or customer growth. It reflects a problem space or opportunity rather than a single solution. An initiative sits within a theme and represents a significant effort or set of projects that move the theme forward. For example, under the theme “onboarding,” an initiative might be “reduce setup time for new users.”

Defining themes begins with strategy. Ask which outcomes are critical for customers or the business, then group related features under these categories. Initiatives are then framed as the major bodies of work needed to achieve those outcomes. This structure shows how features connect to value and prevents the roadmap from being read as a backlog. It also helps shift discussions away from “what to build” toward “why it matters and what impact it creates.”