How do you prioritize user stories based on value, risk, and dependencies?
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The first and most obvious criterion to prioritize user stories is their value. Value can be measured in different ways, depending on the goals and metrics of your project. The idea is to identify the user stories that deliver the most value to the users and the business, and rank them higher in the backlog or the board. You can use techniques such as MoSCoW, Kano model, or value stream mapping to assess and compare the value of different user stories.
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The MoSCoW method, the Kano model, and value stream mapping are powerful tools used in management, business analysis, project management, and software development. The MoSCoW method enables stakeholders to prioritize requirements effectively, ensuring a common understanding of their importance. The Kano model categorizes customer preferences into distinct categories, aiding in product development and customer satisfaction. Value stream mapping allows organizations to analyze and improve their processes, reducing waste and enhancing efficiency. These methods provide valuable frameworks for decision-making, requirement prioritization, understanding customer needs, and optimizing operational processes.
Risk refers to the uncertainty and complexity of a user story, and how it can affect the project's success. For example, a user story can be risky if it involves new technologies, unknown requirements, legal issues, or external dependencies. The idea is to identify the user stories that have the highest risk, and rank them higher in the backlog or the board. This way, you can tackle them early in the project, and reduce the chances of failure, delays, or rework. You can use techniques such as risk matrix, risk burn-down chart, or risk poker to assess and compare the risk of different user stories.
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A risk matrix is a valuable visual aid that assists in evaluating and prioritizing risks by assigning them a score that takes into account their probability and potential impact. It enables teams to effectively assess the level of risk and allocate appropriate attention and resources. On the other hand, a risk burn-down chart offers a graphical representation of the remaining risk throughout a project's duration, allowing for better tracking and monitoring of risk mitigation efforts. Lastly, risk poker is a collaborative technique where team members utilize playing cards to estimate the level of risk associated with individual user stories, promoting a shared understanding and accurate assessment of potential risks.
Dependency refers to the relationship and interdependence between different user stories, and how they can affect the project's flow and delivery. For example, a user story can be dependent on another user story if it requires its output, input, or functionality. By identifying the user stories that have the most dependencies, and you can rank them lower in the backlog or the board. This way, you can avoid blocking, waiting, or conflicting situations, and ensure a smooth and continuous delivery. You can use techniques such as dependency mapping, dependency structure matrix, or dependency graph to assess and compare the dependency of different user stories.
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"Dependency-based prioritization" - This is a concept that is actually quite anti-agile in nature and I would heed caution on using this as a prioritization method and focus more on removing dependencies first. This shows a lack of truly cross-functional teams, team empowerment, and hand-offs that most of the time can be removed. Dependencies and hand-offs cancel out many of the benefits of agile ways of working.
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Angela, I agree with you. Sometimes a dependency is unavoidable, but I would ask, is it a dependency? If 2 stories are dependent, should they be a single story? I work with teams to write their dependencies out of stories, one way is to merge the stories as indicated above another way is to consider the dependency a constraint. These are 2 high-level ways to view how you choose to break down your work to avoid this scenario.
Prioritizing user stories based on value, risk, and dependencies can bring many benefits to your agile team and your stakeholders. These include the ability to focus on the most valuable and risky user stories first, optimizing the use of resources, time, and budget, aligning user stories with project goals and metrics, better communication and collaboration with team members and stakeholders, and adapting to changes more easily. This will help you deliver faster and more reliably, maximize return on investment, manage expectations and feedback, and improve product quality and customer satisfaction.
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Maybe - but don’t neglect the power of rapid feedback in prioritizing work. Having an excellent prioritization mechanism does no more to guarantee a successful product than having a really pretty gantt chart does. What’s important is feedback - get your product out the door and get feedback. Use that to prioritize the next work, even if it violates your prioritization paradigm.
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