This is a resource we typically put together when we are trying to build understanding of a market or category we are entering. We use it to organize an inventory of competitor features we see out in the market, and map them to jobs to be done that we may also want to solve for. It's a great way for PMs and other folks to rationalize a new space or market. We recently produced a version of this for the generative AI space which helped folks build understanding of the space and generate ideas for what our take on the space might look like.

The idea for the category atlas came about in the lead up prior to our annual product roadmap planning process for the following year. We had a general feeling that we would benefit from some time spent trying to rationalize the space we were building in by doing a deep dive into vendors, use cases, and trying to cut through a lot of the different terminology that was in use.

With a framework to go off of, our experience is that the process of pulling together a category atlas can typically be completed by a small team in the space of 2-3 weeks, depending on their prior familiarity of the space. At HubSpot, this is typically something a GM (who sits in the product organization at HubSpot) or a VP of Product will lead with assistance from a member of our Product Strategy team, and potentially involvement from other product leaders and potentially a product analyst.

There are many different sources you can rely on to find up-to-date reviews. We've often found ourselves relying on G2Crowd to understand relative popularity (looking at review counts), and average scores.

This is the most time consuming aspect of creating the atlas. It requires a fair amount of data collection, but also interpretation of what jobs to be done your competitors' features actually map to. Identifying the short list of jobs to be done and mapping competitor features to those jobs can be time consuming, but we find that it's an excellent way for a small team to build up their shared understanding of the space they are building in.

As you work through the list, try to to continually ask yourself if the feature you are looking at maps to a job to be done you've already identified. The goal is to end up with a short, canonicalized list of jobs to be done. At the end of the exercise, it's important to look back and try to identify any jobs to be done that might be worth combining if they are similar enough.

We've found this chart to be a great way to articulate where gaps in our product offering and future opportunities exist. It prompts conversations about the strength of our offering today, and where it makes sense for us to allocate our limited time and attention when deciding what to build next.

It's similar in format to a "blue ocean strategy canvas", which helps us build on prior understanding that the audience might have.

There's no question that this asset relies on a certain amount of judgement and understanding of the individuals putting it together. In order to avoid this reflecting only a single persons' opinion, we'll typically split up and create versions of this in isolation before coming together to compare and calibrate against one another.

This explanation is an opportunity to explain your logic to the audience and back up your assertions.

You might back up your rating of your products' strength today by tying back to positives you hear in customer research or NPS surveys. For how strong your product should be today, tie back to feedback on weaknesses or product roadblocks your customers are running into. Rating where your product should be in 5 years is an opportunity to allude to your longer term strategy.

Part of the value of the strategy atlas is in the doing. Collaborating on the research and interpretation needed to create the strategy atlas helps build shared understanding among the product team of what our competitors are building and what buyers in the space are paying for. It's also a helpful asset to demonstrate deep understanding of the space to more senior leaders.

Building out the inventory has two discrete phases. There's the research, which any one person on the team can likely do (assuming you've aligned on a short list of vendors who you see as your current or aspirational competitors.)

The second phase - mapping those features to jobs to be done - is best done collaboratively.

If you find value in this exercise, it's something you might want to "refresh" annually. While the features vendors offer will change more frequently, the jobs to be done that are being solved likely evolve more slowly - we've found an annual refresh to be sufficient.

Jeff Russo

When we’re trying to build understanding of a market or category we are entering, we use this resource to organize an inventory of competitor features we see out in the market, and map them to jobs to be done that we may also want to solve for.

Category Atlas Product Strategy Tool at Hubspot

HubSpot Product Strategy: Category Atlas

Companion Spreadsheet

Sign up to see more