Prioritizing work is essential for agile teams to deliver the maximum business value.
This guide covers 5 key techniques for prioritizing product backlogs along with their features, benefits, and real-world examples.
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Definitions
Prioritization – Ordering items such as stories and features based on importance and business value.
Product Backlog – The ranked list of work items for the product.
Background on Prioritization Techniques
Common agile prioritization methodologies and techniques include:
- MoSCoW Method – Categorizes items as Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, and Won’t Have.
- Kano Model – Categorizes items based on customer satisfaction as Basic Needs, Performance Needs, or Excitement Needs.
- Weighted Shortest Job First – Scores items based on weighted business value and development effort.
- Value vs Complexity – Plots items on a graph based on value and complexity.
- Relative Prioritization – Ranks items relative to each other.
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MoSCoW Method
The MoSCoW method has team members categorize each backlog item into one of four priority groups:
Must Have – Critical requirements.
Should Have – Important but not critical requirements.
Could Have – Desirable but not necessary requirements.
Won’t Have – Lowest priority requirements.
Features
- Simple framework.
- Focuses on business value.
- Easy to update priorities.
Benefits
- Logical grouping of requirements.
- Critical features done first.
- Easy to communicate.
- Facilitates discussion.
Kano Model
The Kano model categorizes items based on customer satisfaction and effective prioritization:
Basic Needs – Must be fulfilled, but do not increase satisfaction.
Performance Needs – Increase satisfaction as performance improves.
Excitement Needs – Provide the most satisfaction, but are unexpected.
Features
- Captures emotional response.
- Identifies excitement factors.
Benefits
- Quantifies subjective priorities.
- Balances needs and excitement.
- Optimizes satisfaction.
Weighted Shortest Job First
In this quantitative technique, items are scored based on:
Business Value – Importance to customers.
Development Effort – Required work effort.
Higher priority scores indicate both high value and low effort.
Features
- Numerical scoring.
- Considers value and effort.
Benefits
- Data-driven decisions.
- Optimizes ROI.
- Easy to re-calculate.
Value vs Complexity
Items are plotted on a graph based on:
- Value – Business benefit.
- Complexity – Level of effort required.
Higher priority items have high value and low complexity.
Features
- Visual representation.
- Shows value vs effort.
Benefits
- Fast to create.
- Easy to update.
- Intuitive visualization.
Relative Prioritization
The team simply ranks all items relative to each other based on benefit.
Features
- Lightweight.
- Purely relative ranking.
Benefits
- Speedy prioritization.
- No overhead.
- Good for small teams.
Importance of Prioritization
- Focus resources on valuable features.
- Increase customer satisfaction.
- Enable continuous delivery.
- Reduce risk.
- Optimize ROI on development.
Steps for Prioritization
- Gather requirements.
- Estimate effort.
- Apply prioritization technique.
- Rank backlog.
- Review priorities frequently.
- Re-prioritize as needed.
Best Practices
- Involve key stakeholders – Include product owners, customers.
- Use data to estimate – Leverage metrics, research.
- Revisit priorities often – At least each iteration.
- Combine techniques – Use multiple techniques.
- Automate where possible – Use tools and training to save time.
- Don’t over-engineer – Keep it simple.
- Communicate priorities – Visualize on boards.
- Consider dependencies – Schedule accordingly.
- Prioritize continuously – Not just at start.
Examples
MoSCoW – Tagging user stories in JIRA with priority labels.
Kano Model – Survey users to classify features.
Weighted Shortest Job First – Calculating story points and ROI.
Value vs Complexity – Positioning stories on graph.
Relative Prioritization – Planning poker voting.
Conclusion
Leveraging agile prioritization techniques allows teams to deliver the most valuable features early and often.
This guide covered 5 key techniques along with their unique features, benefits, and real-world applications.
Prioritizing continuously based on value ensures customer satisfaction, faster time-to-market, and reduced risk.
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With 30+ years of experience, Catherine Fitzgerald, B.A., M.A., PGDip, founded Oak Innovation in 1995. Catherine received her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s from University College Cork. She holds qualifications in Professional Development And Training from University College Galway. She is completing a second Master’s from University College Cork. Since 1995, clients include Apple, Time Warner, and Harvard University.