A public roadmap only works if the products keep shipping. Otherwise it becomes another content layer sitting on top of no execution.
That is why 100 Tools is being built around narrow products with obvious outcomes. A downloader should download. A reminder tool should remind and capture a real answer.
Shipping in public is useful because it creates evidence. Users can see what exists, what changed, and how fast the product responds to real problems.
It also changes internal discipline. When the work is visible, you stop hiding behind draft polish and start caring more about whether the thing actually works.
The danger is turning the whole process into theatre. Public shipping only helps when the posts are attached to real releases, real fixes, and real lessons.
For a small studio, this approach compounds. Each tool teaches something about copy, onboarding, support, and production operations that feeds into the next release.
Long term, the public archive becomes part roadmap and part trust signal. It tells future users that the site is not pretending to be larger than it is.