How can you prioritize a backlog or features, or a portfolio of projects, to optimize value? This presentation describes seven techniques, plus one 'bonus' technique.

1. 7 TECHNIQUES FOR PRIORITIZING
FEATURES...
OR PROJECTS

2. © 2018
2
Coaching and Training to
raise your business agility
to a new level.
Brad Swanson
www.agility11.com
brad@agility11.com
@bradswanson
LinkedIn.com/in/bradswanson

3. DOT VOTING (MULTI-VOTING)
① Gather a representative group of
stakeholders
② Each person gets N/3 votes (or N/4 if
N > 20)
③ People may use more than 1 vote for
1 item
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A
B
C
D
||||
||
|||

4. RISK ANALYSIS
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Value
Risk
LowimpactHighimpact
Low probability High probability

5. BUSINESS VALUE GAME
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$100
$200
$400
$800
① Each person has cards representing
relative value: $100, $200, $400, $800
② Each person votes on his/her valuation for
each item. Reveal all votes at the same
time.
③ Discuss the rationale for the highest &
lowest votes
④ Repeat voting + discussion 2-3 times
⑤ If no consensus, choose the majority or
median

6. RETURN ON INVESTMENT
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Item Value Estimated cost* ROI
A 8 100
B 4 25
C 2 200
$100
$400
$800
*Cost may be measured in story points, dollars, or time

7. BUY A FEATURE®
① Each feature (project) has a cost (price)
② Each stakeholder gets a limited amount of money.
③ The total amount of money shared by all stakeholders is
enough to buy only half the features
④ Stakeholders must negotiate to get features funded
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Item Cost Contributions Total
A $400 $190
B $250 $250✔︎
C $300 $260
www.innovationgames.com
$20
$50$100
$10
$20
$20
$20
$100
$100
$50
$50 $20
$20
$50
$50 $50
$20
$50

8. COST OF DELAY PROFILE
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time
linear
delaycost
time
fixed date
delaycost
time
logarithmic
delaycost
time
intangible
delaycost

9. WEIGHTED SHORTEST JOB FIRST
(WSJF)
WSJF = Cost of Delay / duration
Cost of Delay = Business and User Value
+ Time Criticality
+ Risk Reduction and/or Opportunity Enablement
Ø Use a normalized, relative scale for each parameter
Ø 100, 200, 400, 800
Ø 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20
Ø Size can be used as a proxy for duration
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10. BONUS
TECHNIQUE
NUMBER 8
11
©20187

11. RICE: REACH, IMPACT,
CONFIDENCE, EFFORT
RICE score = Reach X Impact X Confidence
Effort
Ø Reach = number of people or events per time period
Ø Impact: relative value delivered
Ø E.g. AARRR*
Ø XL = 8, Large = 4, Medium = 2, Small = 1
Ø Confidence: % certainty about Reach, Impact & Effort
Ø Effort: whatever units you use to measure effort
* Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Retention, Referral
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https://hygger.io/blog/4-powerful-factors-rice-scoring-model/

12. BIZ VALUE GAME ACTIVITY
Imagine we’re enhancing a Conference web site / app.
“As a Conference participant, I want to…”
A. Download presentations, so I can hold on to important ideas
I learned at camp.
B. Pay for my registration by check, so my company can
directly pay for my registration
C. Watch videos of each presentation, so I can learn even if I
cannot attend live.
D. Opt in to share my contact info, so I can stay in contact with
other attendees.
Instructions: (1) For each feature, vote 1,2,4, or 8 fingers
👆✌🤚 to indicate relative value. (2) Each person reveal vote at
the same time. (3) Discuss high & low votes. (4) Re-vote 1 time.
(5) Choose median. (6) Note your team’s vote for each A thru D.
© 2018
13www.agility11.combrad@agility11.com

13. © 2018
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Item Value Cost Cost of Delay
(time criticality)
Risk
proba-
bility
Risk
impact
Risk
reduc-
tion
Dot
votes
ROI
=V/C
WSJF Rank
Order
A 2 200
Low Med 100?
B 4 400
Med Med 400?
C 8 800
Med Low 200?
D 1 100
Low Med 100?
E 800 2 200
Low Low 0?
F 100 1 200
Low Low 0?
G 200 4 100
Med Low 100?
H 400 8 800
Hi Hi 800?
WSJF = (Value + TimeCriticality + RiskReduction) / duration [Cost is proxy for duration]
www.agility11.combrad@agility11.com
3 votes per person for dot voting.

14. © 2018
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Item Value Cost Cost of Delay
(time criticality)
Risk
proba-
bility
Risk
impact
Risk
reduc-
tion
Dot
votes
ROI
=V/C
WSJF Rank
Order
A 400 2 200
Low Med 100? 200 350
B 100 4 400
Med Med 400? 25 225
C 800 8 800
Med Low 200? 100 225
D 200 1 100
Low Med 100? 200 400
E 800 2 200
Low Low 0? 400 500
F 100 1 200
Low Low 0? 100 300
G 200 4 100
Med Low 100? 50 100
H 400 8 800
Hi Hi 800? 50 250
WSJF = (Value + TimeCriticality + RiskReduction) / duration [Cost is proxy for duration]

15. © 2018
17
Leadership
Agility 360
Assessment
Brad Swanson
www.agility11.com
brad@agility11.com
@bradswanson
LinkedIn.com/in/bradswanson
Advance your Leadership
skills to the next level!
Contact me for details.