So we already know that prioritization requires a shared company vision. A few other ways not to prioritize featuresĪlright. But not everyone has the context needed to make major product decisions.Īs Mina Radhakrishnan, the first Head of Product at Uber says: A big part of product leadership is thinking about why are we doing this-and-that to set the basis for saying no, we shouldn’t do that. Because how can they? Yes, you’re working with good, smart people. When you’re prioritizing features, you need to act as a collaborative leader-a role the Harvard Business Review describes as “ the capacity to engage people and groups outside one’s formal control and inspire them to work toward common goals - despite difference in convictions, cultural values and operating norms.”Īs necessary and just plain right it is to treat everyone on your team as equals, they can’t have equal say in what features get prioritized. Stalemates and decision deadlock happen even if you’re all agreed on a shared vision. However, while feature prioritization starts with a shared vision, that’s not where it ends. Otherwise it’s like arguing whether to take a car or a boat when you don’t even know where you’re travelling to. The big picture-strategy and company goals-needs to be clear before you can debate the merits of each feature. You’re choosing the right feature for your company’s strategy and goals.Īs Richard Banfield, author of “Product Leadership: How Top Product Managers Launch Awesome Products and Build Successful Teams”, writes: If the team doesn’t agree on the big picture, then they certainly won’t agree on a single feature. You’re not picking someone’s idea over someone else’s idea. However, to be successful, prioritization can’t be personal. But how can you de-prioritize Sally the CEO’s suggestion that you move to a different framework? It might not be that difficult to put off Jeff the UX designer’s idea for a different onboarding flow. And this only gets even more complicated when you’re dealing with stakeholders with different levels of investment and control over a project. Every single feature, angle, approach, and idea reflects someone’s hard work and opinion. One of the hardest parts about prioritizing features is that they aren’t just product decisions. Feature prioritization starts with a shared vision and purpose Final thoughts on feature prioritization.Use the Kano Method to prioritize features by delight Use a Priority Scorecard to score features by custom criteria Break down product features by feasibility, desirability, and viability Place features into themes to avoid choice paralysis
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