Deck

Validate Your Product Roadmap with Customer Evidence

Find the initiatives and Projects with little customer evidence, link the evidence Deck already has, and see what your team is building on gut feel.

By Matt TeixeiraUpdated

Run it in Deck
Time to Run
30 min
Uses
Initiatives,Projects,Evidence
You Get
Roadmap Evidence Check
Run It
In Deck or with your agent

How Do You Validate a Product Roadmap with Customer Evidence?

Check every initiative and Project in scope against the customer evidence linked to it. Flag items below your line, such as fewer than 3 linked insights. Then search your feedback for evidence that exists but was never linked. Each item ends with one status: evidence found but not linked, thin evidence, or no evidence in Deck.

Why Roadmaps End Up Built on Gut Feel

Every item on the roadmap has a story behind it, but few have proof. When someone asks which items customers actually asked for, nobody can answer without a week of digging. Some work is there because a loud stakeholder pushed for it, and some has evidence that exists in your feedback but was never linked.

How Deck Checks the Evidence Behind Each Roadmap Item

Deck already counts the customer evidence linked to each initiative and Project. The check reads those counts, flags the items below your line, and searches your insights, themes, and Opportunity Backlog for evidence Deck has but never linked. Each item gets a status with links, and nothing is linked until you say yes.

How to Validate Your Roadmap in Deck

Run it yourself in Deck, or hand it to your AI agent. Same steps, same result.

  1. 01

    Set the Scope and the Evidence Line

    Decide what you are checking: all active work, one initiative, one owner, or one segment. Use fewer than 3 linked insights as the line. It is the same line the Opportunity Backlog uses to hide thin items.

  2. 02

    Read the Insights Count on Each Initiative

    Open Build → Initiatives. The Insights column shows each initiative's linked insight count. Note every initiative in scope that falls below your line.

  3. 03

    Check the Evidence on Each Project

    Open Build → Projects and look at work that is Not started or In progress. Open a Project and click Related Insights to see the insights behind it. An initiative can be thin while its Projects have plenty, so note both.

  4. 04

    Search for Evidence Deck Already Has

    For each thin item, take 2 or 3 keywords from its title and search your insights and themes in Visualize. Check Build → Opportunity Backlog for a related opportunity too. A keyword match is only a candidate, so read the insight before you count it.

  5. 05

    Give Each Item One Status

    Mark each item: evidence found but not linked, thin evidence, or no evidence in Deck. Security, compliance, and platform work often has no customer evidence for a good reason. Low evidence is a signal to check, not a verdict.

  6. 06

    Link the Evidence You Trust

    For a Project, regenerate its Evidence so Deck cites the matching customer insights, then check them in Related Insights. Generation uses credits. To link exact insights you picked, use your agent: it shows the links first and asks before it writes.

Roadmap Evidence Check Template

roadmap-evidence-check.md
## Roadmap Evidence Check
- Scope: [all active work / one initiative / one owner / one segment]
- Evidence line: Fewer than [3] linked insights
- Date: [date]
Item        | Type                 | Deck evidence count | Status                          | Candidate evidence             | Recommendation        
------------|----------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------------
[Item name] | Initiative / Project | [Deck count]        | Found, not linked / Thin / None | [insight or opportunity links] | Link / Research / Keep
## Statuses
- Evidence found, not linked: Deck has supporting insights or an opportunity the item does not link
- Thin evidence: Deck has a few related insights
- No evidence in Deck: No search found support
## Links to make (approved)
[ ] [Item]: [insight links]. Reason: [one line]
- NO CUSTOMER EVIDENCE, BY DESIGN
- [Item]: security / compliance / platform work
## Research to run
- [Item]: [who to talk to and what to ask]
Plain text. Pastes into Docs, Notion, or your agent.22 lines

Frequently Asked Questions

The default line is fewer than 3 linked insights, the same line the Deck Backlog page uses to hide opportunities. You can pick a different line for your team.

They have no Deck evidence yet. Import them into Build → Projects from a connected Linear or Jira account first, then run the check.

No. Security, compliance, and platform work often has no customer evidence for a good reason. When Deck has no evidence for a customer-facing item, the next step is customer research.

The check only reads. Linking evidence is an optional last step, and only the links you approve are made.

The check works on every plan, but subtheme search needs the Starter plan or higher. Regenerating a Project's Evidence story uses credits, so the agent only does it when you ask, and asks each time.

Yes. With Deck MCP connected, paste the prompt on this page. The agent reads your initiatives and Projects, quotes Deck's counts, and searches for evidence Deck already has. It shows the exact links it will make and asks before it writes anything.