Prioritization Matrix

Rank and prioritise your innovative ideas and features based on impact and effort. Use this method as a strategic decision making tool when your team has to decide on the next steps.

Rank and prioritise your innovative ideas and features based on impact and effort. Use this method as a strategic decision making tool when your team has to decide on the next steps.

How to use it

Time Needed

45 minutes

Difficulty

Medium

Gear

Post-its, sharpies,
pencils, paper

Team

Individual or Group

How to Use

Whenever you’re contemplating the future and you have a to do list in hands, you always end up thinking: where should I start? Some will instinctively go for that easy task and check it off, others might pick the toughest one to get it out of the way. What if there were a better way? Follow these 2 simple steps and find out. Let’s say you have to prioritise a product roadmap. Which features will you deliver first?

Step 1: Evaluate impact

Rank your features in terms of impact on the customer. (Write each feature on a separate post-it for ease of implementation) The higher the impact on the customer, the more to the right you put the post-it on the canvas.

Please remember that anything to the left of the canvas is not unimportant. It’s just less important than the other features. There’s lots of room for nuance in between.

Step 2: Evaluate effort

Next you have to factor in effort. Move a feature up if building it will make you sweat, move it down if it won’t cause you too much trouble.

Step 3: Read the matrix

Now listen carefully to what the matrix is telling you... ;-)

  • High impact, low effort = quick wins
  • High impact, high effort = big must-haves
  • Low impact, high effort = maybe-one-days
  • Low impact, low effort = maybes