# Roadmaps, Prioritisation and Planning ### Overview Planning is continuous in agile delivery. We plan enough to create direction, alignment and confidence, while keeping enough flexibility to respond to learning. ### Roadmap Purpose A roadmap shows the direction of travel. It explains how outcomes will be approached over time. A roadmap should help people understand: * the vision * the major phases * the expected sequence of work * the main releases or increments * key dependencies * major risks * decision points * intended value * confidence level ### Roadmap Rules A useful roadmap is: * simple enough to understand * visible to the right stakeholders * reviewed regularly * focused on outcomes rather than fixed feature promises * honest about uncertainty * connected to the backlog * connected to governance decisions ### Planning Levels We plan at five levels: ### 1. Outcome Planning Defines why the work matters. Typical questions: * What outcome are we trying to create? * Who benefits? * How will success be measured? * What risk are we reducing? ### 2. Phase Planning Defines what must be achieved in discovery, alpha, beta, live or retirement. Typical questions: * What evidence is needed by the end of the phase? * What decision will the phase support? * What outputs are required? * What are the entry and exit criteria? ### 3. Roadmap Planning Defines the expected sequence of work. Typical questions: * What should happen first? * What depends on what? * Where are the decision points? * Where should we build, test, release or stop? ### 4. Release Planning Defines what will be released and when. Typical questions: * What is included in the release? * What is excluded? * What acceptance evidence is required? * What operational readiness is needed? ### 5. Sprint or Flow Planning Defines what the team is doing now. Typical questions: * What is the immediate objective? * What can the team complete? * What blockers exist? * What does done mean? ### Prioritisation Criteria We prioritise based on: * user value * customer value * risk reduction * legal or regulatory need * security importance * operational importance * delivery dependency * technical dependency * effort * urgency * commercial impact * learning value ### MoSCoW Prioritisation MoSCoW can be used where helpful: * Must have: essential to the phase or release * Should have: important but not essential * Could have: useful if capacity allows * Won't have now: not included in the current timebox MoSCoW should not be used as a substitute for hard trade-off decisions. If everything is marked must-have, prioritisation has failed. ### Prioritisation by Phase Discovery priorities: * understand the problem * identify users * identify constraints * test whether further work is justified Alpha priorities: * test risky assumptions * compare options * learn quickly * avoid premature production build Beta priorities: * build usable service increments * validate with real users * assure security and quality * prepare for live Live priorities: * maintain service health * improve performance * respond to user evidence * manage technical debt Retirement priorities: * protect users * protect data * manage transition * decommission safely ### Planning Evidence Planning artefacts should include: * roadmap * backlog * release plan * milestone plan * sprint plan * dependency log * decision log * RAID log --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://framework.aic.io/agile-delivery-playbook/delivery-system/roadmaps-prioritisation-and-planning.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.