Ever felt like your product backlog is a never-ending grocery list where everything is “high priority”? ๐
Choosing what to build next isnโt just about having good ideas; itโs about having a system to say “no” (or “not now”) to the wrong ones.
Hereโs a breakdown of the most popular prioritisation frameworks and exactly when to use them:
๐ญ. ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐
โข ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ: Data-driven teams and quarterly planning.
โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต: How many users will this affect?
โข ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐: How much will it improve the goal?
โข ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: How sure are we about these numbers?
โข ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐: How many “person-months” will it take?
โข ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ: Use this when you need to justify your roadmap to stakeholders with hard numbers and minimise personal bias.
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น โค๏ธ
โข ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ: Finding your “wow” factor.
โข ๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Features users expect (e.g., a login button).
โข ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: The more, the better (e.g., faster loading).
โข ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐: Features users didn’t know they wanted until they saw them!
โข ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ: Use this when your product is functional but needs to stand out in a crowded market or improve customer satisfaction.
๐ฏ. ๐ ๐ผ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ช ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๏ธ
โข ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ: Sprint planning and MVPs.
โข ๐ ๐๐๐-๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Non-negotiables.
โข ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ-๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Important but not vital for launch.
โข ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ-๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Small “nice-to-haves.”
โข ๐ช๐ผ๐ป’๐-๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Not happening this time.
โข ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ: Best for fast alignment with stakeholders when you have a strict deadline or a fixed release date.
๐ฐ. ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐. ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐
โ๏ธ
โข ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ: Quick decisions and early-stage startups.
โข ๐ค๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐: High Value, Low Effort.
โข ๐๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐: High Value, High Effort.
โข ๐๐ถ๐น๐น-๐ถ๐ป๐: Low Value, Low Effort.
โข ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ธ๐: Low Value, High Effort.
โข ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ: Perfect for a quick whiteboard session with the team to clear out backlog clutter without getting bogged down in math.
๐ก ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฝ:
Frameworks aren’t meant to replace your intuition; theyโre meant to guide it. Most top PMs use a combinationโlike using Kano to find the best ideas, and RICE to rank them.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ-๐ต๐ฐ? ๐๐ฆ๐ตโ๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด! ๐
