How to color code your objectives and initiatives by theme

Organize your roadmap and help others understand "why we're working on this" by applying a color code (theme) to your objectives and initiatives.

Product managers(PMs) can use objectives and initiatives themes to:

• communicate how objectives and initiatives support an overall product strategy
• visually group objectives and initiatives which are driving towards the same goal
• navigate viewer attention to the most important roadmap topics

In this article:

• How to create an objective and initiative theme
• How to assign a theme to an objective and initiative
• How to view objectives and initiatives themes on your roadmap

How to create an objective and initiative theme

1. Whether you're in your Features board or your Roadmaps board, click on an objective and initiative to open its detail window. Alternatively, click on the  Add columns button, select the objectives and initiatives icon within the right sidebar, and click on one of the objectives and initiatives listed.
2. In the objective detail, you will see a field called Theme. Click +Assign.
3. If you haven't created a theme, click Create Theme to begin.

1. Select a color for your objectives and initiatives theme.
2. Give your objectives and initiatives theme a name.
3. Repeat as necessary until all of your organization's broader themes have been added to the dropdown theme menu.

How to assign a theme to an objective and initiative

1. Click on an objective or initiative to open the detail page.
2. Scroll down to the Theme field and click +Assign.
3. Select the desired theme from the dropdown menu.

How to view objectives and initiatives themes on your roadmap

1. Click the  Configure menu in the top right corner.
2. Scroll to Objective and Initiatives Visualization > Colors. 
3. From the dropdown menu, select By theme.
4. Click Save roadmap in the top menu bar to save your changes.

Note: Existing objectives and initiatives-based roadmaps will remain organized "By status" unless you explicitly switch to the "By theme" option. New objective-based roadmaps will be arranged "By theme" by default unless you explicitly switch to the "By status" option. Switching between options will not lose your theme or status values - switch back anytime!

Click on the Legend icon in the bottom right-hand corner to reveal a breakdown of your roadmap's color-coded objectives and initiatives, feature statuses, and release statuses.