How to Prioritize Product Features - ProductPlan | ProductCamp SoCal 2014
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How to Prioritize Your Product Initiatives Jim Semick Conducted at ProductCamp SoCal - November 15, 2014
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Prioritization is a hot topic for product managers especially for those doing next year's product planning. Even the most seasoned PM struggles with determining which features and initiatives to put on the product roadmap. With so many opportunities competing for scarce resources, how to decide? With that in mind, I conducted a session at ProductCamp SoCal last month about different ways to approach product prioritization. Some of the best practice techniques are built in to ProductPlan (http://www.productplan.com). Whether you are developing a new product or maintaining an existing product here are 7 different techniques you can use to determine the best initiatives.
Transcript of How to Prioritize Product Features - ProductPlan | ProductCamp SoCal 2014
How to Prioritize Your Product Initiatives
Jim Semick
Conducted at ProductCamp SoCal - November 15, 2014
So many opportunities.
How do you decide the right ones for your product roadmap?
Let’s Discuss
Aligning strategy with goals
Common prioritization techniques
How to get stakeholder buy-in
What we learned after interviewing dozens of product managers.
Tips and more group discussion
Have You Seen These Challenges?
Prioritizing details, not the big picture
Priorities not tied to strategic goals
Priorities driven by execs not customers
Priorities determined by sales prospects
Stakeholders question priorities
Too much subjectivity
Before You Start
• Think high level and categorize – Strategic initiatives/goals (growth, satisfaction,
competition, etc.)– Product line or category– Type (new feature, maintenance, UX, etc.)
• Group smaller initiatives into themes
• Bring customer evidence to the table
• Understand customer value & rough cost
Common Prioritization Techniques
The technique you choose is not as important as…
…the conversation about priorities
…agreement on the criteria
…your product management skills
…helping others arrive at the same conclusion based on evidence
Value Versus Complexity Quadrant
Complexity / Effort
Business Value
High
HighLow
1 2
?
Value vs Complexity + Weighted Scoring
Product Function
Customer Delight
High
Fully Implemented
Low
Absent
Basic (threshold) Features
Perform
ance
Excitement Features
Kano ModelCustomer Delight versus Product Function
Other Techniques
• Buy a Feature
• Opportunity Scoring – Importance vs satisfaction
• Affinity Grouping (super fun)– Opportunities on sticky notes– Group similar items– Vote & Rank
• Story Mapping
Getting Executive Buy-In
• Be transparent with execs about your process - involve them
• Get agreement up front on framework and goals to use for prioritization
• Involve multiple stakeholders to get different viewpoints on prioritization
www.productplan.com
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