# Public ETA on roadmap only when ready

> Add a month-and-year ETA to a request when confidence is real, and choose whether that estimate shows publicly.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/public-eta-on-roadmap-only-when-ready/
- Source: [help.canny.io](https://help.canny.io/en/articles/3635948-estimated-dates-for-posts-eta)
- GrowthDex source hub: [Canny Help Center](/sources/canny-help-center-help-canny-io/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-28
- Rarity: uncommon
- Budget: free
- Channels: Website, Product, Customer Success
- Stages: expectation setting, roadmap trust, launch planning, retention


## Why this can grow

Teams usually swing between two bad extremes on timing. Either they publish no timing at all, which makes the roadmap feel evasive, or they publish overconfident dates they cannot keep. Canny's ETA field gives a better middle path. The team can record a month-and-year estimate internally, then decide whether to show it publicly. That keeps expectation-setting attached to the request while still leaving room for judgment about how much certainty is honest.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. For retention, I would watch the second and third use, not just the first click. A tactic is real when it changes a habit. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where public eta on roadmap only when ready can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Website and Product channel.
3. Use the evidence from help.canny.io to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

Canny lets admins set an estimated month and year for a post from the feedback panel and choose whether that estimate is visible publicly, with public ETAs also appearing in the roadmap.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Status-change-sorted public roadmap](/growth-ideas/status-change-sorted-public-roadmap/) - same source, 3 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Public comment update emails every voter](/growth-ideas/public-comment-update-emails-every-voter/) - same source, 1 shared channel, 2 shared stages
- [Segment-filtered voter list with opportunity value](/growth-ideas/segment-filtered-voter-list-with-opportunity-value/) - same source, 2 shared channels
- [Feedback capture from any webpage with source URL](/growth-ideas/feedback-capture-from-any-webpage-with-source-url/) - same source, 1 shared channel

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The feedback board should keep getting sharper after the vote](/blog/the-feedback-board-should-keep-getting-sharper-after-the-vote/) - product feedback, roadmap trust, customer operations

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.