Begin with the operating outcome
A first release should improve one important customer or team journey. Define the decision, transaction or workflow that must become clearer before listing features.
Prioritise one complete journey
A smaller end-to-end journey creates more learning than many disconnected screens. Map the user, trigger, actions, business rules and success condition.
Separate essentials from expansion
Keep compliance, security and core workflow controls in the first release. Move convenience features and secondary roles into measurable later milestones.
Design for evidence
Define what adoption, completion time, conversion or operating visibility should improve. The product roadmap becomes stronger when decisions use real usage evidence.