{"id":23483,"date":"2022-04-20T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T13:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3pillarglobal.com\/?p=23483"},"modified":"2025-05-14T16:28:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T16:28:32","slug":"why-you-need-a-feature-prioritization-framework-part-2","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.3pillarglobal.com\/insights\/blog\/why-you-need-a-feature-prioritization-framework-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need a Feature Prioritization Framework \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>In the <a href=\"\/insights\/why-you-need-a-feature-prioritization-framework-part-1\/\">previous installment in this series<\/a> we covered three feature prioritization frameworks, including the RICE method, Value vs. Effort, and the KANO model. In this post, we\u2019ll consider the pros and cons of three more digital product development prioritization methods. Examples shown below are courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/roadmunk.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roadmunk<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Story Mapping<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\nThe beauty of this product prioritization framework is its simplicity. It also puts the focus on the user experience rather than the internal opinions of your team and stakeholders.\nAlong a horizontal line, you create a series of sequential buckets or categories that represent each stage of the user journey through your product. This allows you to think about the way your customers navigate your product from signing up, to setting up their profile, to using specific features.\nAlong a vertical line, you then place these tasks in order of importance, from top to bottom. This allows you to prioritize the order of the features you will work on.\nIn some cases, the bottom part of the axis is labeled \u201cBacklog Items\u201d for the tasks that you decide to put on hold. Finally, you draw a line across all these stories to divide them into releases and sprints.\n<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Story-Mapping.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pros of Story Mapping<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Helps quickly and efficiently identify your MVP.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Centers around user experiences. You get to write the user stories.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Facilitates collaboration\u2014story mapping is a group activity that involves the whole team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cons of Story Mapping<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Doesn\u2019t take into account external product prioritization factors like business value and complexity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. The MoSCoW Method<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\nThe MoSCoW Method allows you to figure out what matters the most to your stakeholders and customers by classifying features into four priority buckets. MoSCoW (no relation to the city\u2014the Os make the acronym more memorable) stands for Must-Have, Should-Have, Could-Have, and Won\u2019t-Have features:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Must-Have<\/strong> features have to be present for the product to be functional. They\u2019re non-negotiable and essential. If one of these requirements or features isn\u2019t present, the product cannot be launched, thus making it the most time-sensitive of all the buckets. Example: Users MUST log in to access their accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Should-Have<\/strong> requirements are important to deliver, but they\u2019re not time-sensitive. Example: Users SHOULD have an option to reset their password.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Could-Have<\/strong> are features that are neither essential nor important to deliver within a timeframe. They\u2019re bonuses that would greatly improve customer satisfaction but don\u2019t have a great impact if they\u2019re left out. Example: Users COULD save their work directly to the cloud from our app.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Won\u2019t-Have<\/strong> denotes the least critical features, tasks or requirements and the first to go when there are resource constraints. These are features that will be considered for future releases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\nThe MoSCoW model is dynamic and allows room for evolving priorities. So a feature considered as a &lt;Won\u2019t-Have&gt; can one day become a must-have depending on the type of product.\n<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MoSCoW-Method.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pros of the MoSCoW Method Framework:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Involves stakeholders without a technical background in the product prioritization process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provides quick, easy and intuitive way of communicating priorities to the team and the customers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allows you to think about resource allocation when classifying features and requirements into each bucket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cons of Using the MoSCoW Method Framework:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Creates temptations for teams and stakeholders to overestimate the number of &lt;Must-Have&gt; features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offers an exercise in formulating release criteria more so than a prioritization method.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Opportunity Scoring<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\nAlso known as opportunity analysis, this prioritization method comes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/dp\/B000RG17R2\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony Ulwick\u2019s Outcome-Driven Innovation<\/a> concept. His theory states that customers buy products and services to get certain jobs done.\nThis approach surmises that customers aren\u2019t very good at coming up with solutions to their problems. But\u2026their feedback is still important. It\u2019s what the product team uses to come up with the desired outcomes for a product or feature.\nOpportunity Scoring uses a <em>Satisfaction<\/em> and <em>Importance<\/em> graph to measure and rank opportunities. After you come up with a list of ideal outcomes, you then survey your customers to ask them the following questions:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How important is each outcome or feature?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do you rank the importance of each outcome or feature?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How satisfied are you with the existing solutions?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\nAfter you plot these answers along the chart, you should see the features that matter the most to customers (the outcomes) yet currently have low satisfaction scores within your product. These are the features to prioritize for your next sprint.\n<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Opportunity-Scoring.png\" alt=\"Opportunity Scoring\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pros of Opportunity Scoring<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provides simple framework for quickly identifying the most innovative solutions to common problems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Makes it easy to visualize and categorize priorities on a graph.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cons of Opportunity Scoring<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Can cause customers to overestimate or underestimate the importance of a feature in the survey or questionnaire.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\nDoes your product development team spend hours debating features? If so, how do you finally decide which features to build? Prioritization can be challenging, especially when you\u2019re developing a complex product. As you can see, there are a variety of prioritization frameworks you could use, with some more elaborate than others.\n<strong>In <a href=\"\/insights\/why-you-need-a-feature-prioritization-framework-part-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the next post in this series<\/a>, we\u2019ll cover 3 more prioritization frameworks: Product Tree, Cost of Delay, and Buy a Feature. You can read <a href=\"\/insights\/why-you-need-a-feature-prioritization-framework-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">part 1 of the series here<\/a>. If you need help prioritizing features on your next product development project, we would be glad to help. <a href=\"\/contact\/\">Contact 3Pillar today<\/a> to learn more.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Special thanks to these members of FORCE, 3Pillar&#8217;s expert network, for their contributions to this article.<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/daniel-lunski-product-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Lunski<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"force-def\">FORCE is 3Pillar Global&#8217;s Thought Leadership Team comprised of technologists and industry experts offering their knowledge on important trends and topics in digital product development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the previous installment in this series we covered three feature prioritization frameworks, including the RICE method, Value vs. Effort, and the KANO model. In this post, we\u2019ll consider the pros and cons of three more digital product development prioritization methods. Examples shown below are courtesy of Roadmunk.&nbsp; 4. Story Mapping The beauty of this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30763,"template":"","industry-types":[],"service-types":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-23483","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why You Need a Feature Prioritization Framework \u2013 Part 2 - 3Pillar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this post, we\u2019ll consider the feature prioritization frameworks Story Mapping, MoSCoW, and Opportunity Scoring. 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