Agile teams don’t need rigid gantt charts, they need clarity. “Now, Next, Later” (NNL) roadmaps give you that. They focus on priorities over dates, showing what’s in motion, what’s coming up, and what’s still under consideration. It’s a simple framing that makes it easier to align your team and communicate with stakeholders.
Jira Product Discovery (JPD) fits this mindset perfectly. It’s built for uncommitted work. Ideas that haven’t yet made it onto the delivery train. Using a NNL roadmap inside JPD gives shape to this ambiguity. “Now” is what you’ve committed to, “Next” is probably coming soon, and “Later” is on your radar but still has some question marks around it. It mirrors how real discovery happens: with uncertainty, iteration, and course correction.
Here's how we make it happen.
Getting started with the Roadmap template
You could set everything up manually, but there’s no need. JPD’s built-in Roadmap template gives you a fast start. It adds a custom field called Roadmap, with four options: Now, Next, Later, and Won’t Do. That’s all you need to structure your thinking and communicate priorities, without over-engineering the setup.
The template also creates a ready-to-go board view grouped by that field. Each column corresponds to one of the roadmap phases. When you drag an idea into a different column, the roadmap status updates automatically. It’s simple, clear, and fast to maintain.
The board is for communication, not planning
This board isn’t a dumping ground. It’s not where you triage new ideas or explore wild bets. It’s not your inbox. The NNL board is a communication tool—a way to show the direction you’re headed, both internally and externally.
Think of it like this: the board tells a story about your priorities. You move ideas onto it when you’re ready to start talking about them. Whether that’s with your stakeholders, with leadership, or with customers.
Now: Here’s what we’re actively building. We are committed to this. It's happening.
Next: This is what we’re planning to tackle soon. It’s been vetted and is high on our list. It's the on-deck circle.
Later: Here are some good ideas we've had. We think they have potential, but we haven’t fully scoped them out. No promises.
Used well, the roadmap board invites feedback. Especially on the “Later” column. That’s where you can get input from customers or stakeholders before you’ve locked in direction. What’s missing? What’s exciting? What’s surprising? It gives you a way to talk about priorities without pretending you have all the answers.
This NNL Board Isn't for Planning
Here’s a critical piece of advice: this board isn’t your team's internal work plan. It’s your public-facing communication tool.
The JPD template gives you two ways to track ideas (actually more, but let's stick to those for now): the Status field and the Roadmap field. The messy, internal work of triage, exploration, and discovery is best handled using the more granular Status options (Parking lot, Discovery, etc.). That's your private kitchen where the real work happens.
This "Now, Next, Later" board is your clean storefront. An idea only graduates to this board when you are ready to talk about it with stakeholders or customers. Its purpose is to get feedback on priorities and communicate your direction, not to manage every single possibility.
The power of "Won't do"
The JPD template also gives the Roadmap field a fourth option, and it's a beauty: "Won't do."
This might be the most powerful column on your roadmap. Saying yes is easy, saying no takes discipline.
Moving an idea to “Won’t do” is a decision. It brings closure. It stops “maybe someday” ideas from lingering in the background, quietly draining attention and energy. It signals to your team and stakeholders that you’ve considered it, and you’re choosing to focus elsewhere. Don’t leave these ideas hanging. Be clear. Be decisive. Use this column.
Customizable Views for Different Audiences
Once your roadmap is set up, you can tailor it for different audiences. Create filtered board views by team, goal, product area, whatever makes sense for your stakeholders. Maybe you create a simplified view for executives that hides effort scores and delivery details. Or a more tactical version for the engineering team that shows status, owners, and linked delivery tickets.
You can also publish views and share them via a public link (so long as viewers have an Atlassian account), or you can use apps like Released to create stakeholder and customer portals.
Bring It to Life
To make the board truly useful as a communication tool, you need to see the right information at a glance. Click the "Fields +" button and choose what to show on the cards. Don't just show the title. Add things like:
Impact Score: How much do we think this matters?
Effort: How big is this thing?
Strategic Goal: Why are we considering this?
Delivery Progress: Link your "Now" items to Jira tickets and see progress in real-time.
This turns a simple board into a powerful story about what you're doing and why. Anyone can look at it and understand the plan without needing a 30-minute meeting. It's a conversation starter, and the perfect tool to keep your team and stakeholders aligned.
Keep It Alive, Keep It Honest
The power of this roadmap isn’t in the tool, it’s in how you use it. Review it regularly. Keep the “Now” column fresh. Reassess “Next” and “Later” items when things change. Be willing to move things back or forward as your confidence shifts.
If you’ve linked ideas to Jira Software issues, JPD can even show delivery progress directly on each card, so your discovery work stays connected to what’s shipping.
Done right, your roadmap becomes a single source of truth: not for what will happen, but for where you’re headed and what you’re thinking about. No fake deadlines. No human Jira sync. Just a living, evolving view of your product priorities.
