Feature Prioritization

Frameworks for prioritizing features and opportunities.

RICE Scoring

RICE Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

Factor	Definition	Scale
Reach	Users affected per quarter	Actual number
Impact	Effect on users	3=Massive, 2=High, 1=Medium, 0.5=Low, 0.25=Minimal
Confidence	How sure are you?	100%=High, 80%=Medium, 50%=Low
Effort	Person-months to ship	Actual estimate

RICE Table:

| Feature | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | RICE Score |
|---------|-------|--------|------------|--------|------------|
| [Feature A] | 5000 | 2 | 80% | 2 | 4000 |
| [Feature B] | 1000 | 3 | 50% | 1 | 1500 |

ICE Scoring (Simpler)

ICE Score = Impact × Confidence × Ease

Factor	Scale
Impact	1-10 (potential value)
Confidence	1-10 (certainty of impact)
Ease	1-10 (implementation simplicity)

ICE Table:

| Feature | Impact | Confidence | Ease | ICE Score |
|---------|--------|------------|------|-----------|
| [Feature A] | 8 | 7 | 5 | 280 |
| [Feature B] | 6 | 9 | 8 | 432 |

Opportunity Solution Tree

Structure:

Outcome (measurable business goal)
├── Opportunity 1 (unmet customer need)
│   ├── Solution 1a
│   │   └── Experiment: [test]
│   └── Solution 1b
│       └── Experiment: [test]
├── Opportunity 2 (another need)
│   └── Solution 2a
│       └── Experiment: [test]
└── Opportunity 3
    └── ...

OST Template:

## Outcome
**Goal:** [Measurable objective]
**Current:** [Baseline metric]
**Target:** [Target metric]
**Timeline:** [By when]

## Opportunity Map

### Opportunity 1: [Customer need/pain point]
**Evidence:** [Interview quotes, data]
**Size:** [How many users affected]

**Solutions considered:**
1. **[Solution A]**
   - Effort: [S/M/L]
   - Experiment: [How to test cheaply]
   - Success metric: [What to measure]

2. **[Solution B]**
   - Effort: [S/M/L]
   - Experiment: [How to test cheaply]
   - Success metric: [What to measure]

**Selected:** [Which and why]

When to Use Each

Framework	Best For	Limitations
RICE	Large teams, many features	Requires reach data
ICE	Quick decisions, small teams	More subjective
OST	Strategy alignment	Requires outcome clarity

Prioritization Anti-Patterns

• HiPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) → Use data
• Squeaky wheel (loudest customer wins) → Weight by segment size
• Pet projects (internal favorites) → Require evidence
• Sunk cost (we started, must finish) → Re-evaluate regularly