How Do You Prioritize Features Logically?
As a CEO, CTO, Founder, Product Manager, or a leader in the tech and business world, you’re familiar with the challenge of delivering optimal solutions to your users within the constraints of time, budget, and resources. This common hurdle often leads to the difficult task of prioritizing features.
Our experience, gained from hundreds of decision-making meetings, has enabled us to develop a scientific method for feature prioritization. This approach balances both technical and business perspectives, offering a structured way to determine what to build and when to launch, ensuring you deliver value to your users efficiently. Read on to learn more.
Start With Uninhibited Design Exploration
Collaborate with the UX team to envision the final product without constraints for effort, time, or budget. In our process, the design team will create detailed flowcharts and high-fidelity prototypes. This phase is about exploring the full potential of your idea without limitations.
*Depending on the complexity and Number of pages
Rapid Discovery
During this process, the UX team should conduct discovery workshops to thoroughly understand and document the business requirements. These workshops are critical for aligning the product’s design with business objectives and user needs. The idea is to make executive decisions on features quickly, knowing that many decisions may be assumptions until you have user feedback. The outcome of this effort is a comprehensive flowchart that meticulously maps out every aspect of the application, from user authentication to account settings. You should view it as a living document, not a source of truth.
Deliverable: Application Flowchart
High-Fidelity Prototypes
With your application blueprint in place, the design team should begin prototyping high-fidelity user experiences. Your flowchart is comprehensive, so you can skip wire-framing. Craft your prototypes using design systems that include corresponding JavaScript libraries. This approach not only speeds up the prototyping phase but also ensures that the designs are feasible and ready for seamless transition into development. This step is crucial for visualizing the end product and making informed decisions about its functionality and user experience. Consider shopping these prototypes with users for feedback before beginning development.
Deliverable: High-Fidelity Prototypes
In-Depth Project Planning
The next step involves obtaining comprehensive estimates from the software development team. This requires a detailed breakdown of tasks, meticulously quantified in hours, and then grouped into broader categories like features and essential infrastructure components (e.g., Authentication, Authorization, Database Setup, etc.).
*We do this for free but budget accordingly with other teams
Execution Timeline
A well-defined timeline should be established. It should outline when each task and feature will be tackled. This timeline is crucial for project management, ensuring that the development process stays on track and aligns with the overall project goals.
Estimated Budget
Alongside the timeline, a precise estimated budget should be prepared. This budget is based on the task and feature breakdown, giving a clear financial picture of the development phase. This budgeting is essential for resource allocation and financial planning.
Feature Effort Scoring
Each feature should be evaluated and scored on a scale of 1-5 based on the effort required. This scoring system aids in prioritizing features, understanding resource allocation, and identifying potential challenges in the development process. It’s a strategic approach to balance the project’s scope with available resources and timelines.
Deliverable: Project Execution Plan
Feature Impact and Prioritization
The third step is a critical collaboration between the business team and the development process. It involves the business team rating each feature based on its potential impact, using a scale from 1 to 5. This assessment focuses on how each feature will influence the product’s success and user satisfaction.
*Business team will just need to fill in the the details on the spreadsheet for features on a scale of 1-5
Feature Impact Scoring
Each feature should be evaluated by the business team for its potential impact on the product and its users. This rating helps in understanding the value each feature brings to the table. The outcome is a prioritized list of features, with those having high impact and low effort at the forefront. This approach optimizes resource allocation and maximizes the product’s value and appeal. Armed with this granular and precise estimation, you can effectively plan for two-week release cycles. This structured approach ensures a steady and manageable rollout of features, maintaining momentum and delivering continuous value to users.
Deliverable: Feature Prioritization List
Thanks For Reading
Thanks for taking the time to view our estimation process. Have any feedback? Feel free to reach out to us . Don’t forget to download our estimation template while you’re here!
– The Innostax Team
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