Create a product roadmap that maximizes your impact and minimizes risk

You are looking to build a new product but want to make sure you are making the strongest foundational choices, in technology, features, and investment. thoughtbot can help you understand how to get started. We'll help you craft the strongest product roadmap through user research, design thinking, and architecture planning.

SplitFit Quote

“

When we came to thoughtbot, we just had an idea on paper. They helped us figure out this market and product together.

Brian Gardiner
co-founder, SplitFit

A strong foundation

Turn ideas into a validated roadmap

Our team will partner with you to solidify the foundational product strategy and implementation in a matter of weeks. We gather insights from user research, validate initial concepts, and provide recommendations for design and technology. Coming out of the project, you’ll identify the primary user flow, which framework should be used to bring it to life, and a firm estimate on future development efforts.

At the end of the project you will have:

A user-centered product journey
A clickable prototype or Proof of Concept
Key market insights through user research

Overview

What happens in a Discovery Sprint?

We start by facilitating strategic exercises with your team to begin to organize our critical path and assumptions. This includes facilitating stakeholder interviews and conducting an analysis of the overall market.
Next, we test our ideas and questions through research with target users. Having learned from that audience, we evolve our understanding into a clickable prototype or proof of concept establishing early design direction and technical feasibility.
As the sprint wraps up, we synthesize all our learnings and a formal recommendation for next steps.

A person drawing on a piece of paper on a desk covered in sticky notes.

Let's talk!

What idea are you looking to validate?

A photo collage depicting people at work consisting of four photos and three hand-drawn elements, from top to bottom; two people pinning up storyboard sketches during a design sprint, two developers working side by side at their desks in a well lit office, two people at a conference table smiling with post-its on the wall behind them, the backs of a designer and developer working together on code at the same desk

HBR quote

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We worked with a nimble and creative thoughtbot team to envision options to our current app. They created three prototypes in just five weeks, and then a fourth, hybrid approach, testing each with small groups of our readers to help us choose a direction.

Jim Bodor
Managing Director, Digital Product Strategy—Harvard Business Review

Case Studies

These clients started their product roadmap with Discovery

Harvard Business Review — Future-proofing Harvard Business Review to inspire the next generation of global business leaders

Steel Warriors — Developing a digital platform to mirror the physical offering

Read the case study

SplitFit — From idea to 1,000 monthly paying users in just 6 months

Read the case study

Two screenshots of the Athena homepage, one in the light theme and one in the dark theme.

Athena — Building a shared online home for educators

Read the case study

Two screenshots from the Distribute product.

Distribute — Establishing a start-up product vision in preparation for user research and fundraising

Read the case study

3 screenshots from the Grandstand app against a background of a person drawing prototypes on a piece of paper.

Grandstand — Translating an idea to a validated product vision and roadmap

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Grandstand Quote

“

thoughtbot is a premiere consultant who understands the product strategy space. They work to the direction their clients give, yet are able to provide knowledge to fill in the blanks where needed. They stay in your corner and work together with your team to help reach your goals. We had strong lines of communication - it always felt like we were on the same page, they listened closely to my feedback and all Phase 1 deliverables came in to my satisfaction.

Ryan Walsh
Founder, Grandstand