Skip to main content

Visibility Pack

The Visibility Pack lets you share your roadmap publicly with customers and stakeholders.

What Problem Does This Solve?​

Without Visibility Pack:

  • Customers constantly ask "What's on the roadmap?"
  • You manually create slides or documents for every customer meeting
  • No transparency = customers don't trust the product direction
  • Support and sales field repetitive roadmap questions

Visibility Pack fixes this by giving you a public roadmap page you can share.

Key Features​

1. Public Roadmap Page​

What it is: A shareable URL showing your accepted and ready cards.

What customers see:

  • Card titles
  • Card descriptions (optionally simplified)
  • Status (Planned / In Progress / Shipped)
  • Tags (optional)
  • Launch dates or quarters (optional)

What customers don't see:

  • Internal signal notes
  • Acceptance rationale
  • Private comments
  • Cards you haven't made visible

Example URL: roadmap.distil.app/acme-corp or yourcompany.com/roadmap (with custom domain)

2. Card Visibility Control​

What it is: Choose which cards appear on the public roadmap.

How it works:

  • By default, newly accepted cards are private
  • Click "Make visible" on any card to show it publicly
  • Click "Make private" to hide it again

Use cases:

  • Show customer-facing features publicly
  • Hide internal technical work
  • Keep competitive features private until launch

3. Customer-Friendly Formatting​

What it is: Public view simplifies language for non-technical audiences.

Automatic formatting:

  • Technical jargon is softened
  • Internal tags are hidden or renamed
  • Status labels are customer-friendly ("Coming Soon" not "Needs Signal")

Custom labels:

  • "Planned" instead of "Accepted"
  • "In Progress" instead of "Ready"
  • "Shipped" for completed items

4. Changelog Integration​

What it is: Automatically create a changelog from shipped cards.

How it works:

  • When you mark a card "Shipped," it appears in the changelog
  • Changelog shows title, description, and ship date
  • RSS feed available for customers to subscribe

Use case: Keep customers updated on what's new without manual work.

5. Embeddable Widget​

What it is: Embed your roadmap directly on your website.

How it works:

  1. Copy embed code from Visibility Pack settings
  2. Paste into your website HTML
  3. Roadmap widget appears on your site

Example: Embed roadmap on /roadmap page of your marketing site.

Who Needs This Pack?​

B2B SaaS Companies​

If you have business customers who care about product direction, public roadmaps build trust.

Example: Enterprise customers want to see that SSO is on the roadmap before committing to a large contract.

Build-in-Public Companies​

If you practice transparency as part of your brand, show your work publicly.

Example: Share your roadmap with the world to show progress and gather feedback.

Customer Success Teams​

If CS constantly fields "When will X be ready?" questions, a public roadmap reduces support burden.

Example: CS can share the roadmap link instead of manually answering every time.

Sales Teams​

If prospects ask about upcoming features during deals, share the roadmap to close faster.

Example: Prospect asks "Do you have SSO?" Sales shares roadmap showing "SSO - Planned for Q2."

Setting Up Visibility Pack​

1. Enable the Pack​

  1. Go to Settings → Packs
  2. Find Visibility Pack
  3. Click "Enable" (or start free trial)
  4. Confirm

2. Configure Settings​

Choose visibility defaults:

  • Private by default (recommended): Manually make cards visible
  • Public by default: All accepted cards are public unless hidden

Choose status labels:

  • Use Distil labels (Accepted, Ready) or
  • Use custom labels (Planned, In Progress, Shipped)

Configure branding (Growth/Enterprise only):

  • Upload logo
  • Set brand colors
  • Customize header text

3. Make Cards Visible​

  1. Go to an accepted card
  2. Click "Visibility" toggle
  3. Choose "Public"
  4. Save

The card now appears on your public roadmap.

Pro tip: Start with 5-10 high-impact cards. Don't overwhelm customers with 100 items.

Your roadmap URL is: https://roadmap.distil.app/[your-workspace]

Share this link:

  • On your website (/roadmap page)
  • In customer success conversations
  • In sales demos
  • In email signatures

Using the Public Roadmap​

What Customers See​

Status sections:

  • Planned: Cards in Accepted status that you've made visible
  • In Progress: Cards in Ready status (pushed to dev tools)
  • Shipped: Cards marked as shipped

Card details:

  • Title and description
  • Tags (if enabled)
  • Target quarter or date (if added)
  • Upvote count (if upvoting enabled)

What's hidden:

  • Signal notes
  • Acceptance rationale
  • Internal comments
  • Private tags
  • Cards marked private

Customer Upvoting (Optional)​

Enable upvoting to let customers vote on planned items.

How it works:

  1. Customer visits public roadmap
  2. Clicks upvote on cards they want
  3. You see upvote counts in Distil

Use case: Validate what matters most to customers.

Caution: Don't let upvotes alone drive prioritization. They're one signal among many.

Comments (Optional)​

Allow customers to comment on roadmap cards.

Pros: Get direct feedback, show you're listening Cons: Moderation burden, can become support requests

Recommendation: Start with upvoting only. Add comments later if needed.

Branding Options​

Basic (All Plans)​

  • Distil logo and branding
  • Standard color scheme
  • URL: roadmap.distil.app/[your-workspace]

Custom (Growth Plan)​

  • Your logo
  • Your brand colors
  • URL: roadmap.distil.app/[your-workspace]

White-Label (Enterprise Plan)​

  • Your logo and colors
  • Custom domain: roadmap.yourcompany.com
  • No Distil branding
  • Custom CSS for full design control

Roadmap Strategies​

Minimal Transparency​

Show: Only big, customer-facing features Hide: Everything else

Pros: Simple, low maintenance Cons: Doesn't show full progress, customers might feel like nothing's happening

Best for: Early-stage companies, competitive markets

Full Transparency​

Show: Everything you're working on Hide: Nothing (except truly sensitive work)

Pros: Maximum trust, clear communication Cons: High maintenance, customers might question priorities

Best for: B2B companies, build-in-public brands

Segmented Transparency​

Show: Different roadmaps to different customer segments Hide: Features irrelevant to specific segments

Example: Enterprise customers see enterprise features, SMB customers see SMB features

Implementation: Create separate public URLs for segments (Enterprise feature)

Best for: Multi-segment products

Managing Customer Expectations​

Use Disclaimers​

Add a disclaimer to your roadmap:

"This roadmap shows what we're currently planning. Features, timelines, and priorities may change based on customer feedback and business needs. Nothing here is a commitment."

Why: Protect yourself from customers treating the roadmap as a contract.

Avoid Specific Dates​

Use quarters instead of dates:

  • ✅ "Q2 2024"
  • ❌ "April 15, 2024"

Why: Dates create expectations. Quarters give flexibility.

Mark Things as Shipped Quickly​

When you ship a feature:

  1. Mark the card "Shipped" in Distil
  2. It moves to "Shipped" section automatically
  3. Customers see progress

Why: Shows momentum and closes the feedback loop.

Respond to High-Upvote Items​

If a card gets 50+ upvotes:

  1. Acknowledge it publicly (add a comment or note)
  2. Update the card with progress
  3. If you won't build it, explain why

Why: Shows you're listening and builds trust.

Combining with Governance Pack​

Visibility Pack + Governance Pack = Powerful combination.

What customers see:

  • Acceptance rationale (why you're building this)
  • Validation data (customer requests, survey results)
  • Ownership (who decided this matters)

Result: Customers understand priorities and trust your process.

Learn about Governance Pack

Analytics​

Track roadmap engagement:

Metrics available (Settings → Analytics → Roadmap):

  • Page views
  • Unique visitors
  • Top-viewed cards
  • Upvote distribution
  • Comment activity

Use this to:

  • See what customers care about most
  • Measure engagement over time
  • Validate feature interest

Pricing​

Visibility Pack pricing:

  • Growth: $29/month
  • Enterprise: Included (with white-label options)

See all plans

Best Practices​

Start Small​

Don't make 50 cards visible on day one. Start with 5-10 and expand as you get comfortable.

Keep Descriptions Customer-Friendly​

Rewrite internal descriptions for public consumption:

  • ❌ "Refactor auth service to use OAuth2"
  • ✅ "Improve login security and performance"

Update Regularly​

Add new items monthly and mark shipped items promptly. Stale roadmaps kill trust.

Collect Feedback on the Roadmap​

Ask customers: "What do you think of our roadmap?" Use feedback to improve how you share.

Use It in Sales​

Train sales to use the public roadmap in demos. It shows transparency and builds confidence.

Common Questions​

Q: Do I have to make everything public? A: No. You control exactly what's visible. Most teams show 20-30% of their cards publicly.

Q: Can I have multiple public roadmaps? A: Yes (Enterprise only). Create segment-specific roadmaps for different audiences.

Q: What if competitors see my roadmap? A: That's a trade-off. Most companies find the trust gained with customers outweighs the risk of competitors knowing your plans.

Q: Can customers export the roadmap? A: No. The roadmap is view-only. They can screenshot, but can't export data.

Q: How do I handle delayed features? A: Push back the quarter/date or move back to "Planned." Add a note explaining if needed. Transparency about changes builds trust.

Examples of Great Public Roadmaps​

Linear (linear.app/roadmap):

  • Clean, minimalist design
  • Quarterly organization
  • Upvoting enabled
  • Brief, clear descriptions

Figma (figma.com/roadmap):

  • Category-based organization
  • Shipped section shows progress
  • Customer-friendly language
  • No dates (just "Soon," "Later")

Stripe (stripe.com/roadmap):

  • Product-specific sections
  • Vote + comment
  • Status labels (Exploring, In Progress, Launched)
  • Detailed descriptions

Study these for inspiration.

Next Steps​