Requirements Prioritization Skill

Purpose

Systematically prioritize requirements to ensure the most valuable features are delivered first, managing scope and stakeholder expectations effectively.

When to Use

• Managing product backlog

• Planning releases or sprints

• Resolving conflicting stakeholder needs

• Allocating limited resources

• Defining MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

Prioritization Frameworks

1. MoSCoW Method

Best for: Fixed deadlines, scope negotiation

• Must Have (M): Critical for success. Non-negotiable. If missed, launch fails.

• Should Have (S): Important but not vital. Can be worked around painfully.

• Could Have (C): Desirable/Nice-to-have. Low impact if left out.

• Won't Have (W): Agreed to leave out of this release (maybe later).

Example: E-commerce Checkout

• Must: Guest checkout, Credit card payment.

• Should: PayPal integration, Address autocomplete.

• Could: Gift wrapping options, Crypto payment.

• Won't: Voice-activated checkout (for now).

2. RICE Scoring

Best for: Data-driven decision making, comparing disparate features.

$$ RICE Score = \frac{Reach \times Impact \times Confidence}{Effort} $$

• Reach: Number of people/events per period (e.g., 1000 users/month).

• Impact:

• 3 (Massive)

• 2 (High)

• 1 (Medium)

• 0.5 (Low)

• 0.25 (Minimal)

• Confidence:

• 100% (High - have data)

• 80% (Medium - some data/intuition)

• 50% (Low - wild guess)

• Effort: Person-months (e.g., 2 months).

3. Kano Model

Best for: Customer satisfaction and differentiation.

• Basic (Threshold): Must be present. Customer neutral if there, dissatisfied if absent. (e.g., Car brakes).

• Performance (Linear): The more, the better. (e.g., Car gas mileage).

• Excitement (Delighters): Surprise features. High satisfaction if present, neutral if absent. (e.g., Free sunroof).

4. WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)

Best for: Agile/SAFe environments, maximizing economic flow.

$$ WSJF = \frac{Cost of Delay (CoD)}{Job Size (Duration)} $$

Cost of Delay components:

• User-Business Value (Value to user/business)

• Time Criticality (Is there a deadline/decay?)

• Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement (Does it reduce risk/unlock future value?)

Facilitating Prioritization Workshops

Preparation

• List Requirements: Ensure all requirements are gathered and clear.

• Invite Stakeholders: Decision makers, technical leads, business owners.

• Define Criteria: Agree on the framework (e.g., "We will use MoSCoW").

Process (e.g., Buy a Feature)

• Give stakeholders "play money" budget (e.g., $100).

• Assign "prices" to requirements based on effort/cost.

• Ask stakeholders to "buy" the features they want.

• Discuss results: What was bought? What was ignored?

Process (e.g., $100 Test)

• Give each stakeholder 100 points.

• Ask them to distribute points across requirements based on importance.

• Sum up points to see group consensus.

Common Challenges & Solutions

Challenge Solution

Everything is a "Must" Force ranking (1 to N). Use "Buy a Feature" with limited budget.

HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) Use data-driven methods (RICE). Visualize trade-offs.

Conflicting priorities Link back to business goals/KPIs. Facilitate negotiation.

Dependencies ignored Technical team must review to identify dependency chains (A must be done before B).

Business Value vs. Technical Necessity

• Business Priority: Value provided to the customer/business.

• Technical Priority: Architectural needs, dependencies, debt reduction.

• Final Priority: Start where Business Value is high AND Technical Risk is managed.

Output

• Prioritized Backlog: Ordered list of requirements.

• Release Map: What goes into Release 1, 2, 3.

• Descope List: Explicit list of what is NOT being done.

Reference

• Wiegers, K. & Beatty, J. (2013). Software Requirements.

• Intercom on Product Management (RICE).

• SAFe Framework (WSJF).