Whiteboard PromptsNow / Next / Later roadmap on Claude Whiteboards
Paste the backlog, let Claude group it into user problems, score the problems with RICE, fill Now only up to the team's real capacity and leave with a roadmap stakeholders can read.
Use it when: Quarterly planning, or when the backlog has grown past what anyone can read, with the PM, a designer and 2 to 5 engineering or support leads.
Now / Next / Later product roadmap
What you type here fills every prompt below and stays in this browser.
- 0′Lay out the board
- 3′Dump the backlog
- 10′Group into user problems
- 20′Check each problem against the goal
- 28′Score with RICE
- 48′Fill Now to capacity
- 60′Write done-when for Now
- 68′Dependencies and gaps
- 78′Walk through and write the roadmap
Agenda, 90 minutes. Click a time to jump to its step.
Before the meeting
- Export the backlog as plain text, one item per line, and cut it to 60 items or fewer: drop closed tickets, duplicates and anything untouched for a year. Claude only sees what you paste, not Jira, Linear or other connected apps.
- Collect the numbers RICE needs: how many users each area of the product touches per quarter (from your analytics) and the team's capacity for the quarter in person-months. You paste them in steps 5 and 6.
- Click Share and invite everyone by email, and run step 1 ten minutes early.
- 0–3 min
Lay out the board
Run this before people join. Check that the three roadmap columns are the same width and the goal note sits above them.
Start a whiteboard for the Tidyhome, a home-cleaning booking app roadmap. At the top, add a title and a green sticky note with our goal: "Repeat bookings from 22% to 35% of customers by end of Q2". On the left, add a large empty section called "Backlog". In the middle, add an empty section called "Problems". On the right, make three columns side by side with these headers and one-line descriptions: "Now: being built this quarter, committed", "Next: shaped and up next, 1 to 3 months", "Later: problems we will look at, 3 months or more". Below the three columns, add a small section called "Not now". Leave everything empty.
Board after this stepGoal note, an empty backlog area, an empty problems area, three empty roadmap columns and a "Not now" parking area.
Steps 2 to 9 are in the workshop kit
You have the setup prompt and the full agenda. The kit adds the other 8 prompts of this now / next / later product roadmap, what to do while Claude works on each one, and 3 follow-up prompts: RICE sheet, Stakeholder deck, Replies to parked requests. The same for all 12 workshops, plus the 40-prompt library.
One payment, no subscription. Opens in this browser as soon as Stripe checkout completes.- 3–10 min
Dump the backlog
In the kitIn "Backlog", put each of these items on its own sticky note, keeping the wording exactly, including ticket IDs …
Board after this stepForty to seventy backlog notes in one area, with their ticket IDs.
- 10–20 min
Group into user problems
In the kitGroup the notes in "Backlog" by the user problem they solve and move each group into "Problems" …
Board after this stepEight to fifteen named user problems with counts; the backlog area is empty.
- 20–28 min
Check each problem against the goal
In the kitUnder each problem box, add a small yellow label …
Board after this stepEvery problem tagged against the goal; problems that don't move it are parked in "Not now".
- 28–48 min
Score with RICE
In the kitUnder each of these problems, add a score card with Reach (users per quarter), Impact (3 massive, 2 high, 1 medium, 0.5 low, 0.25 minimal), …
Board after this stepA RICE card under every goal-linked problem; red question marks show what still needs data.
- 48–60 min
Fill Now to capacity
In the kitOur capacity for this quarter is [capacity] person-months …
Board after this stepNow holds no more than the team can build; every manual override carries a reason.
- 60–68 min
Write done-when for Now
In the kitFor each problem in "Now", add one note starting "Done when:" that names a measurable result tied to "Repeat bookings from 22% to 35% of customers by …
Board after this stepNow cards carry measurable done-when notes and an owner's initials; Later cards are problems, not promises.
- 68–78 min
Dependencies and gaps
In the kitLook only at the cards in Now and Next …
Board after this stepArrows show which Next items wait on Now; kept gap notes are placed and counted.
- 78–90 min
Walk through and write the roadmap
In the kitTurn this board into a one-page roadmap doc for stakeholders with these sections …
Board after this stepThe board stays as the working record; stakeholders get a one-page Now / Next / Later doc.
After the meeting
RICE sheet
In the kitCreate a sheet from the score cards on this board with the columns Problem, Column, Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort, RICE …
Stakeholder deck
In the kitTurn this board into a 5-slide deck …
Replies to parked requests
In the kitFor every note in "Not now" and "Later" that has a ticket ID, write a two-sentence reply to the person who asked for it …
What goes wrong on Claude Whiteboards
- Cut the backlog to 60 items or fewer before pasting. Claude puts every line on its own sticky note, and a 200-note board is too dense to read on a shared screen or to drag around on a laptop.
- 2 more pitfalls for this workshop are in the kit
Board layout
A board with every backlog item grouped into user problems, a RICE score card on each problem tied to the goal, and three columns Now, Next and Later with Now filled only to capacity. Plus a one-page roadmap doc and a RICE sheet.
Agenda at a glance
| Minutes | Step | What the board shows afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Lay out the board | Goal note, an empty backlog area, an empty problems area, three empty roadmap columns and a "Not now" parking area. |
| 3–10 | Dump the backlog | Forty to seventy backlog notes in one area, with their ticket IDs. |
| 10–20 | Group into user problems | Eight to fifteen named user problems with counts; the backlog area is empty. |
| 20–28 | Check each problem against the goal | Every problem tagged against the goal; problems that don't move it are parked in "Not now". |
| 28–48 | Score with RICE | A RICE card under every goal-linked problem; red question marks show what still needs data. |
| 48–60 | Fill Now to capacity | Now holds no more than the team can build; every manual override carries a reason. |
| 60–68 | Write done-when for Now | Now cards carry measurable done-when notes and an owner's initials; Later cards are problems, not promises. |
| 68–78 | Dependencies and gaps | Arrows show which Next items wait on Now; kept gap notes are placed and counted. |
| 78–90 | Walk through and write the roadmap | The board stays as the working record; stakeholders get a one-page Now / Next / Later doc. |
Run every workshop, not just the retro
Anthropic's help page gives three sample prompts. Free prompt packs give single prompts. The kit gives you the whole session: what to paste, in what order, how many minutes each step takes, what you do while Claude works and what the board should show before you move on.
| Free here | Workshop kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint retrospective | The whole script | The whole script |
| The other 11 workshops | Agenda, board layout and the first prompt | Every prompt in order, with what you do at each step |
| Prompts that turn the board into a doc, deck, tracker sheet or Miro board | Retro only | For every workshop (40 in all) |
| Mistakes to avoid on Claude Whiteboards | One per workshop | All of them |
| Single-job prompt library | 10 prompts | All 40 |
| Copy, print or download a script | Retro only | All 12, plus the whole kit as one Markdown file |
$19one payment
No subscription. Checkout by Stripe; the kit opens in this browser straight after. On another device, ask for a sign-in link sent to the email you paid with.