feature-prioritisation

Feature Prioritisation Skill

Apply the right prioritisation framework to any backlog and produce a clear, defensible ranking with rationale — not just a sorted list.

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• List of features or initiatives to prioritise
• Goal or metric being prioritised against (OKR, launch, sprint)
• Preferred framework (or recommend based on context below)
• Team data: reach estimates, effort estimates, velocity (for RICE)

Framework Selection Guide

Ask the user which framework they prefer, or recommend based on context:

Situation	Recommended Framework
Need a quick, data-driven score	RICE
Stakeholder alignment meeting	MoSCoW
Understanding customer delight vs expectations	Kano
Early-stage startup, fast decisions	ICE
Identifying underserved customer needs	Opportunity Scoring
Strategic portfolio decisions	Value vs Effort Matrix

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RICE Scoring

Formula: (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort

Factor	Definition	Scale
Reach	Users impacted per quarter	Actual number
Impact	Effect on goal per user	0.25 / 0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3
Confidence	How certain are you?	50% / 80% / 100%
Effort	Person-months required	Actual number

Output table:

Feature	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	RICE Score	Priority

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MoSCoW Method

Categorise each feature as:

• Must Have — non-negotiable for launch/sprint; product fails without it
• Should Have — important but not critical; workarounds exist
• Could Have — nice to have; include only if time allows
• Won't Have (this time) — explicitly out of scope now; may revisit

Always ask: "Must have for what?" — define the scope (launch, sprint, quarter) before categorising.

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ICE Scoring (Startup/fast mode)

Formula: Impact + Confidence + Ease (each 1–10)

Quick, subjective — good for early decisions before data exists.

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Kano Model

Classify features into:

• Basic (Must-be): Expected; absence causes dissatisfaction
• Performance: More = better satisfaction; linear relationship
• Excitement (Delighters): Unexpected; creates delight; absence is neutral
• Indifferent: Users don't care either way
• Reverse: Some users want it, others don't

Recommend building: all Basic features first → Performance features for key use cases → 1–2 Excitement features per release.

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Output Format

Feature Prioritisation — [Product/Team] — [Date]

Framework Used: [RICE / MoSCoW / ICE / Kano / Custom] Scope: [Sprint / Quarter / Release] Goal being prioritised against: [Metric or objective]

[Scored table using selected framework]

Recommended Build Order:

1. [Feature] — [1-line rationale]
2. [Feature] — [1-line rationale]
3. ...

Explicitly Deprioritised:

• [Feature] — Reason: [brief]

Assumptions Made:

• [Any estimates or judgements used in scoring]

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Guidelines

• Always anchor prioritisation to a specific goal or metric — never prioritise in a vacuum
• Flag when two features have similar scores but very different risk profiles
• If stakeholder politics are influencing prioritisation, name it explicitly and suggest separating the framework score from the final decision
• Recommend revisiting priorities every 2 weeks minimum
• Never produce a single-column ranked list without rationale — explain the top 3 and bottom 3 decisions

Quality Checks

• Every item is scored against the same goal or metric (not different goals per item)
• Deprioritised items are explicitly listed with reasons (not just absent from the ranked list)
• Assumptions used in scoring are documented
• Stakeholder politics or personal preferences are separated from framework score
• Prioritisation is anchored to a specific scope (sprint / quarter / launch)

Anti-Patterns

• Do not score items against different goals — every item in a prioritisation session must be scored against the same objective
• Do not omit deprioritised items — explicitly listing what was cut and why is as important as the ranked list
• Do not let stakeholder politics override framework scores without documenting the override and reason
• Do not mix RICE, ICE, or MoSCoW scores across frameworks in a single session — pick one framework per prioritisation exercise
• Do not treat the output as final without documenting the assumptions used in scoring — assumptions change, and the list must be revisitable