Four Questions Every EdTech Team Should Ask Before Adding a Feature to the Roadmap

Building an EdTech product roadmap is equal parts business strategy, customer empathy, and discipline. Teams are constantly flooded with ideas from teachers, district leaders, and internal stakeholders. But not every good idea deserves roadmap real estate. A strong roadmap focuses on the ideas that simultaneously meaningfully improve educator workflows, strengthen student outcomes, and drive the business forward.

Here are four criteria to help you decide whether a future idea earns its place.

1. Does it solve a real, high-value problem for educators or students?

Before anything else, determine whether the idea addresses an urgent and widespread need. The best roadmap items don’t start with what’s technically possible — they start with what’s painful for teachers, counselors, administrators, or students.

Ask:

• Does this materially improve a teacher’s workflow or reduce cognitive load?
• Does it address a problem districts repeatedly raise? Has this shown up repeatedly in user research, surveys, or schools’ RFPs?
• Is there behavioral data indicating demand (e.g., workarounds, repeated asks, high drop-off points)?
• Will it meaningfully improve student experience, engagement, or outcomes?

If the answer isn’t clearly “yes,” the idea likely doesn’t belong on the roadmap yet.

2. Is it strategically aligned with your business direction?

Not every good idea is a good idea for your company. Roadmap decisions require clarity about where you want the product to be in 1–3 years.

Consider:

• Does this strengthen your core value proposition?
• Does it move you toward your long-term vision, rather than sideways?
• Does it differentiate you in meaningful ways?

Ideas that dilute your focus — even compelling ones — are better saved for later.

3. Is it feasible to build and sustain responsibly?

Every new feature comes with a cost: engineering time, design attention, data infrastructure, QA bandwidth, long-term maintenance, and customer support overhead. Feasibility isn’t just about whether you can build it — it’s about whether the team can build it well without weakening velocity elsewhere.

Think about:

• Do you have the capacity and expertise to build this now?
• Will maintaining it be sustainable?
• Does the impact justify the complexity?

If building it makes everything else slower, it may not be the right time.

4. Will it meaningfully drive sales, retention, or expansion?

A healthy roadmap balances customer-centered value with business value. Some features exist because educators need them; others exist because they strengthen sales momentum, reduce churn, or open new revenue pathways — all essential for long-term product health.

Ask:

• Will this help close deals that are currently stalling?
• Does it address the issues that cause churn?
• Does it create natural expansion opportunities (more seats, add-ons, higher tiers)?
• Does it strengthen your competitive positioning in ways sales teams can leverage?

A feature doesn’t need to be surfaced by teachers to be valuable to the business. However, teachers and administrators still need to be able to use it effectively — it should enhance their workflow rather than complicate it. The strongest roadmaps honor both: features that materially improve educator experiences and features that sustain the company so you can continue improving those experiences for years to come.

A disciplined roadmap process ensures you’re not just building for today’s excitement but for tomorrow’s impact. When teams consistently evaluate ideas through these four lenses — user value, strategic alignment, feasibility, and business impact — they build products that educators love, administrators trust, and districts continue to invest in.