What are product prioritization frameworks, and why are they important?
Product prioritization frameworks are a set of rules which help us choose which steps to eliminate and where to shift our resources and workforce. They are vital as they enable us to deliver the best product to our customers in the quickest way. They help us decide the following things.
- Is our focus on the highest priority work?
- Are we meeting the demands of our customers and keeping them satisfied?
- Is this product feasible?
- Are we working according to the feedback provided by customers?
The bitter truth in making products is that you can never make a product that will satisfy the customer entirely. There will always be something missing in one way or another.
So, the best practice for product managers is to focus our team and resources on the most important step and go from there. So, it is very important to prioritize every step before we run out of funding or time.
Some best product prioritization frameworks:
The following are some of the best product prioritization frameworks that product managers can use to fulfill most of the customer's needs in the most efficient ways.
RICE
RICE framework was developed by the management team of Intercom. This is one of the best frameworks to prioritize ideas and steps to have the highest impact on making a product of any value. The four letters of this framework represent the following things.
- R means reach. What is the reach of this product, and how many people will it affect?
- I mean impact. What will be the impact of this product on every user?
- C stands for confidence. How confident are we about achieving this product? Do we have everything this product will need?
- E stands for effort. How much effort each department will have to give to reach the goal.
Pros
- Your team will get an idea of how to build the product and what will require of them
- The influence on prioritization will reduce because of the confidence you have to achieve the goal
Cons
- You will never predict everything correctly.
- You cannot consider every possibility and variable.
Kano Model
Kano model is the set of rules that mainly prioritize customer needs and customer satisfaction. This model has two constraints. The first constraint is satisfied. In this, product manager, how pleased is the customer after implementing specific strategies.
The second thing is the functionality. How well the team has implemented a specific feature. Did we reach the expectations or not?
Pros
- Kano models help us to focus on the must-have things instead of decorative features.
- It will help you have an estimate of the customer's reaction to a specific feature.
Cons
- It might take a lot of time and unnecessary effort.
- Customers might not have full knowledge about the feature you are asking them about.
MoSCoW method
This method helps you divide the features into four priority-based groups based on what is essential to all the stakeholders and customers. There are the following groups.
- Must-have- Features in the product that are the most important, and you need to have them under any circumstances.
- Should have—they are also essential to provide but not in a specific time frame.
- Could have-the features that are not essential, but if you add them, customers will be much satisfied.
- Will not have- these features are not that important and are mostly for future releases.
Pros
- Straightforward process to prioritize the features
- Gives you an idea of where to invest your resources
Cons
- Customers might demand many must-have features
- You might give it too much importance than just a process to help you.
Buy a feature
This is a very innovative framework that can help you a lot to get creative ideas to reach the goal. In this process, you distribute the product features among your team and give them specific resources and budgets to implement the feature. When they will give you back the list, ask them why they spend on that feature.
Then, compare the list with the funds your customers are willing to spend on the total inventory.
Pros
- If you want the total satisfaction of customers, this method is perfect.
- You do not have to ask your customers a whole lot of questions about a specific feature.
Cons
- This will only give you an assessment of the features you have already decided to include
- Getting all your customers and team members might be a difficult task
Product tree
This is a very innovative and easy way to have an idea about all the features of your product. In this method, you draw a tree on a whiteboard with the trunk representing features your product has already made, outermost branches representing features for a future update, and other branches representing features you currently have no knowledge of.
Then ask customers what features they might want to include or exclude.
Pros
- It gives you visual information about features of the product
- You do not need any surveys after this process
Cons
- This will only give you visual help. No exact values will be provided about the feature
- The features will not be grouped on the bases of priority
Value vs. Risk
In this framework, product features are viewed in the dimensions of value and risk. What will be the risk to the business value if we choose to eliminate certain features? There is no way to calculate the value of the feature, but the risk is classified into schedule risk, cost risk, functionality risk.
Pros
- We will be able to save resources and money
- We will easily classify the features based on risk
Cons
- We might damage the quality of the product by eliminating an important feature
- You might work on features that turn out to be fewer variables than the ones you eliminated.
Sore an Opportunity
This framework includes coming up with ideal solutions and outcomes of the products and asking the customers about them and visualizing them in the form of graphs. Because customers do not always have good solutions to their problems, in this way, we secure an opportunity by viewing the satisfaction of a certain idea given to the customers.
Pros
- Best solutions can be provided to simple problems
- Visualization is easy.
Cons
- In this process, customers might neglect the importance of the feature.
- Customers might not understand some ideas.
Story Mapping
It is one of the simplest frameworks which entirely focuses on the customer feedback and experiences rather than the opinions given by your team. In this, you get help in prioritizing the features by looking at the user feedback and experience from the start of the project to your current stage of development.
Pros
- You will quickly decide which things to work on
- Story mapping will allow you to collaborate effectively with the whole team
Cons
- You will not have an idea about the business value of a certain feature.
- The complexity of a certain feature can give you some problems.
ICE Model
ICE models can help you go through the prioritization of the product in the fastest way possible. However, it is mostly not viable because it neglects the opportunity to get the right amount of data to make the decision.
If you are new to product prioritization, then this framework can be a perfect starting point. ICE stands for
- Impact- what will be the impact of the project?
- Confidence-how confident are we to reach the goal of this initiative.
- Ease- how easy will it make?
Pros
- You will quickly decide what features works and what to not
- You will save time and money
Cons
- You will not have enough information to choose the right features
- Different people can reach the same goal on their perceptions
Weighted scoring
This framework, with the help of the weighted drivers, will help you calculate the average score of all the features, and then you prioritize which features to invest your workforce and money in and which to eliminate. You use a simple method or complex management system to calculate the weighted score.
Pros
- It will give you quantitative data about the feature and can decide the importance of it.
- Helps a lot to choose must-have features if you have a very long list of features
Cons
- All your team will have to be on the same page to implement a feature
- You must think carefully about how much you are going to score each driver
Conclusion
Product prioritization frameworks are methods to get everyone on the same page to achieve a common goal. They provide many possible solutions to a certain product, and you can choose which one fits you best. We hope this article has provided you with enough information about some of the best frameworks used in product prioritization.
