Prune the Product Tree Template
Organize and prioritize product feature requests from customers and internal stakeholders.
About the Prune the Product Tree Template
Prune the Product Tree (also known as the product tree game or the product tree prioritization framework) is a visual tool created by Luke Hohmann that helps product managers organize and prioritize product feature requests. The tree represents a product roadmap and helps your team think about how to grow and shape your product or service.
What is Prune the Product Tree
Prune the product tree helps product management teams gamify the juggling of feedback and opinions from customers and internal stakeholders.
A product tree usually has four symbolic features:
Trunk: Existing product features your team is currently building
Branches: Each branch represents primary product or system functions (you can also leave room for more branches to “grow”)
Roots: Technical requirements or infrastructure that make your listed features possible
Leaves: Each leaf represents a new idea for a product feature
You can also adapt the image as needed to suit your team discussions and business priorities. For example, apples hanging off a tree can represent a return on investment, and seed baskets under the tree can symbolize deprioritized ideas.
Create your own version of Prune the Product Tree
Making your own versions of Prune the Product Tree is easy. Miro is the perfect tool to create and share them. Get started by selecting the Prune the Product Tree Template, then take the following steps to make one.
Frame the activity for teams new to the game. For anyone who needs context, spend a few minutes guiding everyone through the exercise. The features found closest to the tree trunk represent near-term priorities. Features on the branches’ outer arms represent long-term future plans. The challenge is to prioritize near-term, current, and future product plans.
Grow each part of the tree to prioritize feature requests. You can cluster groups of features (drafted on sticky notes) around labeled branches or sub-branches (with text boxes). Avoid turning this into an idea generation activity. You want your team to focus on what features are both feasible and desirable.
Discuss each part of the tree as a group. When the tree is full of sticky note “leaves,” you can ask questions to kickstart a productive conversation. Ask each other if anyone thinks branches are too heavy. You can also ask if any feature categories are unexpected, if any feature requirements need more user research, or if the tree roots have the necessary infrastructure to make features viable. Consider dot voting with Miro’s Voting Plugin to figure out what features should be further explored.
Turn the prioritization outcomes into a product roadmap. Prune the Product Tree works as a standalone activity. You can also translate your findings into a product roadmap to shape new features you’ll focus on first from quarter to quarter.
Get started with this template right now.
SMART Goals Template
Works best for:
Prioritization, Strategic Planning, Project Management
Setting goals can be encouraging, but can also be overwhelming. It can be hard to conceptualize every step you need to take to achieve a goal, which makes it easy to set goals that are too broad or too much of a stretch. SMART is a framework that allows you to establish goals in a way that sets you up for success. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. If you keep these attributes in mind whenever you set goals, then you’ll ensure your objectives are clear and reachable. Your team can use the SMART model anytime you want to set goals. You can also use SMART whenever you want to reevaluate and refine those goals.
Impact/Effort Matrix Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Strategic Planning, Prioritization
Growing organizations have countless to-do’s and only so many hours in a day (or weeks before a big launch) to get them done. That’s where an impact effort matrix comes in. It gives you a quick visual guide to help prioritize your tasks and know exactly what’s worth doing. Using our template, you can create a matrix that organizes your activities into four main categories: quick wins that are low effort, effort-intensive projects that provide long-term returns, fill-ins that are low effort but low value, and time-wasters.
Gantt Chart Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Mapping, Roadmaps
Simplicity, clarity, and power — that’s what make Gantt charts such a popular choice for organizing and displaying a project plan. Built upon a horizontal bar that represents the project progress over time, these charts break down projects by task, allowing the whole team to see the task status, who it’s assigned to, and how long it will take to complete. Gantt charts are also easily shareable among team members and stakeholders, making them great tools for collaboration.
What? So What? Now What? Template
Works best for:
Agile Workflows, Retrospectives, Brainstorming
The What? So What? Now What? Framework empowers you to uncover gaps in your understanding and learn from others’ perspectives. You can use the What? So What? Now What? Template to guide yourself or a group through a reflection exercise. Begin by thinking of a specific event or situation. During each phase, ask guiding questions to help participants reflect on their thoughts and experience. Working with your team, you can then utilize the template to record your ideas and to guide the experience.
Creative Brief Template
Works best for:
Design, Marketing, Desk Research
Even creative thinkers (or maybe especially creative thinkers) need clear guidelines to push their ideas in productive, usable directions. And a good creative lays down those guidelines, with information that includes target audience, goals, timeline, and budget, as well as the scope and specifications of the project itself. The foundation of any marketing or advertising campaign, a creative brief is the first step in building websites, videos, ads, banners, and much more. The brief is generally prepared before kicking off a project, and this template will make it easy.
Basic Persona & Empathy Map
Works best for:
Product Management
Understand your customers better with the Basic Persona & Empathy Map template. This tool helps you create detailed personas and empathy maps, providing insights into customer needs, behaviors, and pain points. Use this template to tailor your products and services to meet customer expectations more effectively. Perfect for marketing and product development teams focused on user-centered design.