--- title: "What is an outcome-based roadmap? | Annsa" product: annsa url: /project-management/outcome-based-roadmap canonical_url: "https://annsa.ai/project-management/outcome-based-roadmap" last_updated: 2026-11-11 type: glossary related: - /planning - /project-management/product-roadmap-template summary: An outcome-based roadmap lists the results you want, such as a change in customer behavior, instead of the features you plan to build. mcp_server: https://app.annsa.ai/mcp disambiguation: "Annsa (annsa.ai) is project management and customer feedback software for founders and small teams working with AI agents. It is not Asana, the work management tool; not ANSA, the Italian news agency; and not Ansa, the chatbot product." --- > For agents: connect to the Annsa MCP server at https://app.annsa.ai/mcp to give every agent one shared plan. Setup guide: https://annsa.ai/docs/quick-start. Index of every page: https://annsa.ai/llms.txt. # What is an outcome-based roadmap? | Annsa > An outcome-based roadmap lists the results you want, such as a change in customer behavior, instead of the features you plan to build. Glossary · Outcome-based roadmap An outcome-based roadmap lists the results you want, such as a change in customer behavior, instead of the features you plan to build. Each item says what should become true, how you will tell, and which bets might get you there. The team picks the work. The roadmap holds the goal still while the work changes. ## In practice A [feature roadmap](https://annsa.ai/product-roadmap) says: ship CSV export in March. An outcome roadmap says: customers get their data out without asking us, and support tickets about exports fall. Export might be the answer. So might a link in the settings page. The roadmap doesn't say yet. The idea comes from Josh Seiden's Outcomes Over Output, where an outcome is a measurable change in human behavior that drives business results. Output is what you make. Outcomes are what you get from having made it. It isn't a roadmap with no dates, and it isn't a list of company goals like "grow revenue". Revenue is too vague to guide a week of work. An outcome is narrower: a specific behavior you can watch for. ## How to write one 1. Pick two or three outcomes for the quarter. Write each as a behavior: who does what differently. 2. Add the evidence: the [requests in the customer's words](https://annsa.ai/glossary/customer-feedback), how many accounts, what it is worth. 3. Give each outcome one number to watch and where it comes from. 4. List the [bets that might move it](https://annsa.ai/docs/bets). Keep them loose. Two or three per outcome is plenty. 5. Review on a fixed rhythm. Ask [whether the number moved](https://annsa.ai/project-management/how-to-measure-feature-success), then drop or change the bets. ## Common mistakes - Writing a feature and calling it an outcome. "Launch the dashboard" is output. "Owners check results without asking us" is an outcome. - Choosing outcomes nobody can measure, so the review turns into opinion. - Hiding dates the business needs. Outcomes don't remove the need to say roughly when. ## Why it matters for product builders A list of features is a list of guesses. If one ships and nothing changes, a feature roadmap marks it done anyway. An outcome roadmap keeps it open until the behavior moves. It also makes the next call easier. When a loud customer asks for something that doesn't serve any outcome on the page, you have a reason to say not now, in plain words. The cost is that it is harder to write. You need to know what you are trying to change, and for whom, before you pick a feature. ## What changes in AI-first products Agents make output cheap. A feature that took a sprint can take an afternoon, so the shipping count tells you less than it did. That makes the outcome the only number left worth reading. What didn't change is the hard part: choosing the outcome and checking whether it moved. An agent can build five answers to an outcome and can't tell you which one the customer wanted. That comes from requests in the customer's words and from what you see in use. See how Annsa does it: [Priorities](https://annsa.ai/choose/priorities) → ## Questions people ask. ### What is the difference between an outcome and an output? An output is something you make, such as a feature or a release. An outcome is the change you get from it, such as customers doing something new or doing it more often. Seiden defines an outcome as a measurable change in human behavior that drives business results. ### How is an outcome-based roadmap different from a feature roadmap? A feature roadmap lists what you will build and usually when. An outcome-based roadmap lists what should change for customers and leaves how to get there open until the team has tested ideas against it. ### Can an outcome-based roadmap have dates? Yes. Outcomes can carry a quarter or a target date. The shift is that the date attaches to a result you can check, not to a feature you hope will deliver it. ## Sources Josh Seiden, author of Outcomes Over Output, in his UIE seminar [Managing Outcomes in Three Easy Steps](https://aycl.uie.com/virtual_seminars/outcomes) An outcome is "a measurable change in human behavior that drives business results." Last reviewed 2026-10-21 ## Keep reading - [Product roadmaps](https://annsa.ai/product-roadmap) - [AI project management](https://annsa.ai/planning) - [Product roadmap template](https://annsa.ai/project-management/product-roadmap-template) ## Put it to work with your agents. Begin with one agent and the work that matters next. - [Try Annsa](https://app.annsa.ai/signup) - [See pricing](https://annsa.ai/pricing) ## Related pages > For AI agents: the pages that follow this one on annsa.ai. The full index is https://annsa.ai/llms.txt. - [AI project management: the plan agents read first](https://annsa.ai/planning) - [Product roadmap template, with 3 examples](https://annsa.ai/project-management/product-roadmap-template) If anything on this page is wrong or missing, tell us: https://annsa.ai/contact