Prioritization Made Simple: Top Frameworks and Tips

Picture this: you’ve just stepped into your new role, excited yet slightly overwhelmed. You’re handed a backlog among other documents and you’re being introduced to the team. The backlog that you were given is a maze of tasks and features, each seeming more daunting than the last. You are asked to start working on the roadmap and amidst the chaos, one question echoes in your mind: where do I even begin?

The Importance of Prioritization

Before we delve into the nitty-gritty of prioritization frameworks, let’s take a moment to understand why prioritization is crucial for product managers. At its core, prioritization is about making informed decisions. It’s about allocating limited resources—time, budget, and manpower—in the most effective way possible to deliver maximum value to your customers and stakeholders.

Imagine you’re planning a road trip. You have a list of destinations you want to visit, but you can’t possibly cover them all in one go. You need to decide which places are must-sees and which ones you can save for another trip. Similarly, in product management, you have a list of features and enhancements you want to implement, but you can’t do everything at once. You need to prioritize and focus on what matters most.

Before prioritization

Trust me, laying the groundwork is super important. Skipping these steps can lead to a lot of wasted time and frustration—for you and your stakeholders. Postponed meetings, endless debates because of missing criteria…not fun, right? So, here’s what you should do:

1. Define Objectives: Clearly articulate the goals and objectives of the prioritization exercise, and ensure they align with the overall product strategy.
2. Gather Data: Gather relevant data from customer feedback, market research, user analytics, and stakeholder input to inform the prioritization process.
3. Estimate Effort: assess the required effort, complexity, dependencies, and resources.
4. Consider Constraints: Identify any constraints or limitations that may impact the prioritization process, such as budget constraints, time constraints, technical limitations, or regulatory requirements.

By doing these prep steps before diving into prioritization, you’ll pave the way for a smooth ride ahead. No last-minute meeting cancellations or frantic calls to the engineering team for estimates.

Prioritization frameworks

There’s no shortage of prioritization frameworks to guide feature selection. When it comes to picking the right features, you’ve got plenty of frameworks to choose from. They help you keep your decision-making on track and consistent. These frameworks usually fall into two camps: “Buckets” and “Scores” as you will see in the rest of the article.

The MoSCoW Method: Keeping It Simple

First up, we have the MoSCoW framework. This little gem helps you categorize features into four neat buckets: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have (but it would be nice if we did).

Implementing MoSCoW is a breeze, it functions almost like an expert opinion or heuristic evaluation, which can introduce biases. But here’s the catch: it can get a bit fuzzy if everyone isn’t on the same page. Without clear criteria, you might find yourself scratching your head, wondering why certain features made the cut. My advice? Set some criteria upfront to avoid any confusion down the road.

Impact-Effort: The Power Couple

Next on our list is the impact-effort analysis. This dynamic duo evaluates features based on their value to customers versus the effort required for implementation. It’s like playing a game of chess – you need to think several moves ahead to come out on top.

With impact-effort, you’re categorizing features into four main types: fill-ins, quick wins, time sinks, and big features. Each category has its own set of challenges and opportunities, so choose wisely!

1. Low Effort, Low Impact (Fill-Ins): These features require minimal effort but don’t necessarily make a big difference for customers. They’re more like placeholders, not the ones we’d typically use for gaining momentum. Instead, I’ve often used these as fill-ins when resources allow or as part of larger initiatives.
2. Low Effort, High Impact (Quick Wins): Here, we’re talking about features that bring significant value to customers with minimal effort on our part. These are the golden nuggets—the quick wins that deliver immediate benefits and help build momentum for larger projects. I’ve seen firsthand how prioritizing these can lead to quick wins and positive feedback from stakeholders.
3. Low Impact, High Effort (Time Sinks): These are the features that require a lot of effort but don’t necessarily provide much value to customers. It’s crucial to tread carefully with these features, considering whether the investment of resources is worth it or if there’s a better alternative.
4. High Effort, High Impact (Big Features): Finally, we have the big-ticket items—the features that have the potential to significantly enhance customer value but require substantial effort to implement. These are the game-changers, the features that can drive long-term success and competitive advantage.

The Kano Framework: Delighting Customers, One Feature at a Time

In 1984, Noriako Kano and his team developed a framework called the Kano model. This model categorizes features into three types: must-haves, performance, and delighters. The Kano model is a helpful tool however, it isn’t the easiest to implement. It requires extensive research to understand the needs and preferences of their customers. But, IMHO it is worth it.

This method categorizes features into three main types:

1. Must-Haves: These are features that customers expect as basic requirements. They are essential for meeting minimum customer expectations and are necessary for product viability. Product managers must ensure that must-have features are present and functional to prevent dissatisfaction among customers.
2. Performance: Performance features are directly correlated with customer satisfaction. They represent improvements or enhancements beyond the basic requirements and contribute to overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. Product managers should prioritize the development of performance features to differentiate their products in the market and meet the evolving needs of customers.
3. Delighters: Delight features are unexpected or innovative features that exceed customer expectations and create a positive emotional response. While not essential for product functionality, delighter features can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and differentiate products from competitors. Product managers should focus on identifying and implementing delighter features to delight customers and create a competitive advantage.

RICE and ICE Framework: Score?

Last but not least, we have RICE and ICE – two peas in a pod when it comes to prioritization frameworks. These take a more analytical approach, assigning scores to features based on reach, impact, confidence, and effort.

To implement RICE, you start by assigning scores to features based on four criteria:

• Reach: How many people will this feature affect within a given period?
• Impact: How big is the potential impact of this feature?
• Confidence: How certain are we that it’s going to work?
• Ease/Effort: How difficult is it to implement?

These scores are then multiplied to calculate a prioritization score for each feature. Features with higher prioritization scores are deemed more important and should be prioritized for implementation first.

RICE Score = Reach x Impact x Confidance / Effort

On the other hand, ICE prioritization involves evaluating features based on three criteria: Impact, Confidence, and Effort.

ICE Score = Impact x Confidance x Effort

After prioritization

Once you’ve sorted out your priorities, it’s not time to kick back just yet. you still need to do the following:

1. Communicate Clearly: Share the prioritization process, criteria, and expectations with all stakeholders. Make sure everyone grasps the rationale behind decisions, especially how their perspectives were considered.
2. Break It Down: Transform prioritized features into manageable tasks.
3. Measure: Consider the metrics and KPIs to monitor progress and success against set benchmarks.

The Verdict: DIY

Exploring frameworks can help you determine which one resonates best with you. However, it isn’t always your choice, and it might be a challenge to use the framework that you see fit. Most of the time the company structure and norms often shape prioritization practices. For example, when you face tight deadlines, you may resort to a simple framework such as MoSCoW. When you are always questioned you might choose buy-a-feature.

On the flip side, product management isn’t a solid mature concept yet, meaning that you can come up with your criteria or a framework and you can mix and match. If you don’t wish to do so I find myself mostly leaning towards the Kano model as it offers a more nuanced approach. Emphasizing customer-centricity and competitive awareness.

Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I look forward to connecting with you and continuing the conversation!