On Product Prioritization Frameworks

Prioritization frameworks are a Whole Big Thing. Is there a single right or best way to do it? Yes there is! Buckle up because I’m about to…

Prioritization frameworks are a Whole Big Thing. Is there a single right or best way to do it? Yes there is! Buckle up because I’m about to tell you what that right way is.

The utterly basic approach looks something like this:

Impact / Effort = Priority

Give each feature a score for impact, and one for effort (or cost, same thing.) Do the math, sort, and you’re done.

There are problems with this approach, many described in this really interesting article https://lnkd.in/d6heghU9 .

One suggestion there is to add confidence to the equation, so that speculative projects score lower than less risky ones:

Impact / Effort * Confidence = Priority

One way to avoid some of the dangers described in the article is to continue to add more thoughtful considerations about what’s most important. Just add them to the equation: Multiply by desirable factors, divide by undesirable. If conversion is a big priority, assign a score and multiply.

Do this in a spreadsheet. Be disciplined, but start adding columns for the criteria that matter most. Add rows for the features you’re prioritizing. Now you have a “feature matrix.” Most of us do, in some form or fashion.

The equation doesn’t have to weight the criteria evenly. You can do a little extra math to weight them according to their relative significance.

Which kind of matrix is the best kind? The best matrix incorporates the most relevant perspectives and the values of your organization. There’s no one “right” way to do that (I was kidding about that!) It’s right when it looks like your team and organization, and it’s helping you make decisions that you feel turned out well in retrospect.

One challenge in this process is to quantify impact. One awesome way of doing that is by counting customers who have complained about a bug or requested a feature. I love to see this in a matrix. This kind of feedback gives a justification halo which should always be reflected in the prioritization process.

Here’s two more ideas that have worked for me:

First, use a process that gets scores from discipline leaders like design/UX, sales, and support. If you have executive stakeholders who like to tinker with your product process, here’s a structured way for them to do it.

Second, think about applying radical customer focus to your prioritization matrix. If you have a Voice of the Customer leader, could you give them a score with a high weight?

I often use an “imaginary customer council” to help me in big picture product decisions. I ask “What would our customers say if they were on this call right now?” I also use that kind of thinking to break ties, to decide my own scores, and to lead group discussions about prioritization.

I hope that helps. Please let me know, and tell me what else you’ve found that works for you.

Thanks to Phil Decelis and Jennifer Gormley for inspiring this.