Story Map app/plug-in vs JIRA Advanced Roadmap

[Senthil V]

Hello, I added Story Map app/plug-in my JIRA instance and trying to understand the differences between the story map and advanced roadmap view in JIRA. Both have similar capabilities to add/view different issue types and maintaining the top-level planning view. There is some difference in visualization on how the story map view shows as card layout etc., What are the other differences? What is not available in JIRA Advance Roadmap vs available in Story Map app?

Any insights would help?

[Rob Mkrtchian _CAIAT_US_ · Accepted solution]

When it comes to functionality they might seem similar, but they have different purposes (at least I use them differently). Advanced Roadmap provides you with a high-level timeline view for presenting and communicating the roadmap, and items in Roadmap are usually epics, features, or modules, whereas Story Map is for visualizing and managing the flow of user stories and tasks in the context of user journeys or workflows, useful for planning, defining MVP or specific feature, ensuring that all necessary steps and user interactions are covered comprehensively.

[Liam - DevSamurai · Accepted solution]

Hi @Senthil V, 

That's a great question. While both tools are valuable for project management, story maps are best for understanding and organizing work from a user perspective. In contrast, advanced roadmaps are essential for strategic planning and tracking progress over time.

Here's a breakdown of the key differences to help you decide which one is better suited for your needs:

Focus:

• Story Map: Focuses on user experience and visualizing the flow of features from a user's perspective. It excels at prioritizing user stories based on their value and dependencies.
• Roadmap: Offers a more traditional Gantt chart-like view for high-level project planning. It prioritizes scheduling and resource allocation across teams and initiatives.

Visualization:

• Story Map: Presents user stories as cards arranged horizontally, mimicking a user journey. This layout helps visualize the big picture and identify gaps in the user flow.
• Roadmap: Uses swimlanes and bars to represent epics, stories, and sprints over time. This view is helpful for capacity planning and tracking progress against deadlines.

Additional functionalities in Story Map (compared to Advanced Roadmap):

• User Persona integration: Some story map apps allow incorporating user personas to understand user needs better when mapping stories.
• Advanced dependency visualization: Story map apps often provide a clearer visual representation of dependencies between user stories.

You can try out our user story map tool for Jira which's named ProductGo here (https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1222309). We also provide in the app the roadmap and personas feature to help users fully understand user needs and better control their projects.

Hope it helps 🙌