Economic prioritization: initiatives
What did we do?
researched methods of prioritization
tested 4
with 7 stakeholders
using 5 past initiatives
What did we find?
Results
+ and (-)
Value/size
results
Wide range of value for each initiative
If you look at value alone, it would be very difficult to see any variation between projects
If you add size, the smallest wins due to the large variation in value ranking
Method 1: Value vs. Size
+ visual
+ definition of value
+ incorporates size
+ intuitive
(-) want a more organized way to discuss value,
not to lump it together
? - Wonder if relative ranking (i.e. each initiative against each other per criteria) would have influenced results
WSJF
Results
Extremely consistent scoring
even if you only calculate cost of delay
Method 2: Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF)
+ incorporates size
+ focused dialogue
+ asked good questions
+ consistent rankings
(-) not visual
(-) not all columns should be weighted the same
(-) seems complicated, unintuitive
Buy an initiative
Results
Didn't do a great job of ranking
(this could possibly be because we allowed equal chip allocation on different)
A lot of variation in responses
Completed very quickly
Method 3: Buy an Initiative
+ fast and easy
+ fun
(-) seems like what we do now
(-) doesn't drive the same dialogue as other methods
(-) highly inconsistent prioritization
(-) unclear rankings between chips and rank
Rank by stakeholder
Results
High deviation in rankings
(i.e. many features with 1s also had 5s)
Method 4: Stakeholder Preference
+ focuses on our stakeholders
+good conversations about stakeholders
(-) varied opinions of who our stakeholders are
(-) prioritization was inconsistent
(-) the weighting seemed inaccurate
Insights - results
- models with specifics criteria for evaluating value had more consistent results
- incorporating size did not greatly impact ranking
Insights - human
- Interviewees liked models with more specific criteria
- Relative comparisons (initiative vs. initiative per criteria) are easier and drive more conversation
- People like visuals
- Methods with size created more dialogue post-ranking
Recommendation
- decide on criteria
- review criteria feature by feature
-
discuss size
- plot results on a graph
- timebox discussions
- use the information to help make a decision, not as an absolute ranking
Options for next steps
1. Continue gathering data on the side and see
or
(work with POs and)
2. Decide on and incorporate criteria into the current prioritization meeting
or
(work with POs and)
3. Facilitate a formal prioritization activity once every 8 weeks
Post-Presentation Feedback
We need to figure out what is the right criteria (revenue impacting, market fit, corporate strategy, etc.)
Talk about in the prioritization meeting: things happen so fast, we want to be able to respond* (how do we formalize this?)
Offsite to complete exercise
Make results transparent to the org
Product team ownership
Economic prioritization of initiatives
By Laura Burke
