Client project roadmap template
Show a client what's happening and when, without handing over your internal task list. Break a project into phases with a timeline they can check in on.
Example: a filled-in roadmap
Project Roadmap · Branding
Nomad Coffee Co. Brand Refresh Roadmap
- For
- Nomad Coffee Co.
- Timeline
- 6 weeks
Phases
4Week 1
Discovery
Brand audit, competitor research, creative direction approval.
Weeks 2-4
Design
Logo suite, packaging concepts, guidelines draft.
Week 5
Refinement
Client feedback, revisions, final asset prep.
Week 6
Delivery
Final files, brand guidelines handoff.
Week 1
Discovery
Brand audit, competitor research, creative direction approval.
Weeks 2-4
Design
Logo suite, packaging concepts, guidelines draft.
Week 5
Refinement
Client feedback, revisions, final asset prep.
Week 6
Delivery
Final files, brand guidelines handoff.
What goes in a client-facing roadmap vs. an internal project plan?
A client-facing roadmap shows phases, milestones, and dates: the things the client needs to track progress and know when to expect deliverables. An internal project plan additionally carries task-level breakdowns, your own time estimates, dependency chains, and buffer you've built in for yourself, none of which the client needs to see, and some of which (your padding, your actual hours) actively hurts you to expose. The two documents should share a source of truth for dates, but the roadmap you send a client should read as clean milestones ("Design approved, Week 2"), not as your working task list. Sending your internal plan as the client-facing roadmap is a common mistake: it invites the client to renegotiate your estimates line by line instead of just tracking outcomes.
How granular should roadmap phases be?
Three to six phases is the useful range for a client-facing roadmap: fewer than three and it's not really a roadmap, more than six and clients stop reading it. Each phase should end in something the client can see or approve (a design, a working build, a signed-off draft), not an internal milestone like "backend complete" that means nothing to them. For projects under a month, weekly phases work; for longer engagements, group by deliverable instead of by week, since a fixed weekly cadence on a 4-month project either goes stale fast or forces you to keep rewriting it. Whatever granularity you pick, each phase needs a date and an owner (usually "you," sometimes "client, feedback due"), because a roadmap with dates but no accountability just becomes a list of things that slipped.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a project roadmap include?
- Phases, milestones, and a timeline built from your project brief: enough for a client to see what's happening and when.
- Can I update it as the project changes?
- Yes, edit phases and dates anytime; the client-facing version reflects your latest edits.
- Is this the same as a Gantt chart?
- Simpler. It's phase-and-timeline focused for client communication, not a full project-management tool.
