How do you prioritize your product increment?

A common mistake is to let the content of your product backlog drive your vision or goal. Instead your vision and goal is a key test that is applied to every backlog item to evaluate its very existence. As new information emerges so your vision and goal will also emerge. This in turn informs but does not control the contents of the product backlog.

To prioritize a product increment, focus on delivering the highest value to the customer by aligning with business goals. After consulting with stakeholders and po, look into factors like dependencies, risks, and market demands, etc. Use tools like the MoSCoW method or value-based prioritization to make decisions. Keep the process flexible, allowing for adjustments as new information or changes arise during development.

Having a vision and goals is very important, but in the end, it's just a start. If the team gets the vision or product goal shown only once or only when there is a annual big meeting, that won't help. That is the reason, why it's important to have these visions and goals inside of every iteration as a reminder where the journey is heading. This way, the team can answer with more confident if the next steps are bringing them closer to the goal. It can easily happen that the team is focusing only on tickets and outputs and then wondering what is more important as they forget what the vision or goal is.

Prioritizing your product increment is like planning a family vacation. You gather everyone’s input to understand what each person values most. Similarly, the Product Owner listens to stakeholders to grasp their most pressing needs, like enhancing the checkout process or adding new payment options for an e-commerce platform. Just as you’d consider the budget, time, and everyone’s preferences for the trip, the team evaluates each feature based on its potential impact on user satisfaction and business goals, as well as the technical complexity and risks involved. Using methods like the Moscow prioritization, the team ensures that the most valuable features are tackled first.

While vision and goals are foundational, every backlog item should deliver value to the end user. It's crucial to remember that the landscape of product development is dynamic. Your vision and goal should not be rigid constructs but agile and adaptable. The reason for this flexibility is simple: while you might start with a vision rooted in your organization's strategy and values, your customers provide the most crucial feedback. Listening to what your customers say or understanding their unarticulated needs can offer insights you have yet to consider. Listening to customers might change your vision and goal, but in the end, the aim is to solve the client's problem - isn't it?

It's key to understand not only what your users say, but also what they do! Enabling telemetry in your application for performance, feature usage, and any other relevant data is key to gaming insight. This data, combined with the current business conditions and UX analysis informs any good product managers decisions.

In theory MVP sounds good, but to precisely define what is required to reach product market fit can be extremely difficult especially in a market full of competitors. All features need to be analyzed for proper ranking and we need to identify those incremental steps that help us increase return on our investment even in early phases. This does not only contribute to financing the product development further but also creates a customer base that can provide valuable feedback later on.

While developing the products, I have often found it helpful to make it super easy for the users to provide feedback. Connecting with the end users and listening to them while building a product is a great way to make a product that solves actual users' problems. The goal for every product is to "solve a problem," who is better at providing feedback than the end user? Engaging users while listening to and rewarding them by implementing their requests is a great way to build brand loyalty. The users are the best advocates of the product, and when they feel listened to (that is what every human longs for), they feel much more connected and will ensure the product succeeds, as they see the product's success as their success.

Gathering feedback is the only way you can find the way, other ways are blocked! Customer behavior is more important than their words. Most of the time they can't predict what they want! Look for the root cause of their words and provide value based on what you analyze.

Leverage data to inform your decisions. Metrics like user engagement, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction can provide invaluable guidance.

Can you describe your value proposition in two sentences? If you can't, then it's not clear enough! Is there anything more important than this? Yeah! Yeah! Unique value proposition! And what is it? It is something that no one can copy, like a culture or a relationship...

Everyone asks this fundamental questions - "What is in it for me?" Do not list features, rather the outcome for the user when they use the product. Where will it take them if they use the product? Will it save time? will it save money? will it help reach their own goal? I have often seen products listing their features and comparing features with other competitors. Although it is important but this is a changing landscape. Show value. Show what the product will do for the user.

A better way to identify and gauge the product proposition is the idea of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with basic functionality and UX. It can be released to understand and read the users, get early feedbacks etc. If proven to be success can be followed by a Minimum Marketable Product (MMP) which is almost ready product with more features than MVP. The product can be further enhanced by adding new features and releases, as a continuous process.

Defining value proposition is foundational for prioritizing a product increment. It ensures a customer-centric focus, guiding you to meet customer needs and clarify your product's purpose. This clarity strengthens your competitive advantage and keeps your product relevant in a changing market. Resource allocation aligns with the value proposition, mitigating risks and enhancing customer satisfaction. The iterative process allows continuous improvement, resulting in a successful and impactful product release. In essence, a well-defined value proposition is the compass that leads your product development in the right direction.

Prioritize features and enhancements that directly align with your value proposition and address the most critical needs and pain points of your customers. Consider what specific value your product offers and ensure that each increment contributes to that value.

In a situation where our backlog was growing rapidly, we needed a systematic way to prioritize user stories. I introduced the RICE framework and worked with the Product Owner to assess each item based on Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. This data-driven approach helped us objectively prioritize high-impact stories over lower-impact ones, leading to a more valuable product increment

Choose the Easiest Method! it is the key. lets people use it and realize the benefits, then you can move on and upgrade your method. I prefer MoSCoW in most situation. its not just a method. it's an approach; a way of thinking! MoSCoW helps us to create an explicit border between different kind of priorities!

In my experience we have been following MoSCoW technique right from Sprint Refinement to Sprint Planning to ensure that high priority stories are taken up first.

Use Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) approach, yes it's a mouthful, to proiritize Epics, Features and Stories (despite what SAFe suggests), I have seen how effective it is, and while it is formulaic and takes a little practice to be comfortable with using it, it is well worth the investment. WSJF uses business value, time criticality and business opportunity and risk reduction towards calculating the relative cost of delaying implementing a Feature or a Story - provided by the Product Owner. How important is it really compared to other work items? Then simply divide the cost by the size (using Fibonnaci points) for the WSJF and rank the work items from highest WSJF (priority) downwards, to deliver the most value in the shortest time.

1?? MoSCoW It helps identify the critical features that must be included in the product and those that can be omitted. 2?? Kano It helps prioritize features based on their impact on customer satisfaction, ensuring a balance between essential functionality and user experience. 3?? Value vs. Effort Matrix It helps visualize the relationship between value and effort, enabling product managers to focus on high-value, low-effort items. It's for me the most intuitive technique ?? 4?? RICE By calculating the RICE score for each item you can prioritize tasks based on their potential impact and feasibility. You should experiment with different techniques to find the one that aligns best with your product goals and constraints.

Extreme programming techniques also enhance collaboration and cohesion between team members But it is wise to use only where they are required

Always have your stakeholders working together. Shortening feedback loops helps you prioritize items faster and also get things done quicker. Working collaboratively and having all stakeholders working together on regular - I dare to say even daily - basis, keeps every one informed and aligned with current vision, goals and market status. If knowledge is power then all the team needs to have it.

Prioritization is not a solitary task; it’s a collaborative effort that involves input from your entire team and key stakeholders. Engaging with your team ensures that the technical feasibility and effort are accurately assessed, while involving stakeholders ensures that the business perspective and user needs are fully represented. Collaboration fosters a shared understanding and buy-in, making it more likely that everyone will support the final prioritization decisions.

A product manager will be continuously adjusting the order and composition of the product backlog based on new information and understanding gained from analysing: - the product goal & vision - the backlog items - market opportunities - user feedback - stakeholder needs Current business conditions are an important context that is often overlooked!

Long lasting impediments and cross dependencies often cause a clogged product backlog A clean up and communication of removing from backlog for particular notorious sections can be informed and put into trash if agreed with demand management

Prioritization isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing process that requires regular review and adjustment. As new information emerges, user needs evolve, or market conditions change, your priorities may need to shift. Regularly revisiting and adjusting your priorities ensures that your product development remains agile and responsive to the latest insights. It’s about staying flexible and being willing to pivot when necessary to stay on course toward your goals.

Agree with you Sunil on this ! Focusing on the user's outcomes and benefits rather than just listing features is crucial in today's market. Users want to know how a product can improve their lives, save time, save money, or help them achieve their goals. It's not just about what the product does but how it can positively impact their journey. Value is key, and demonstrating what the product will do for the user is the way forward!

Building a framework to enable processes for a scrum team is essential. It helps pave the way for individuals in the team to follow the step-by-step guide to deliver incremental value to a product.

Based on my personal experience, I've stopped talking about prioritizing! Instead I talk about ordering. The two words mean the same in this context, but they are very differently received by my customers, users and stakeholders. When I ask them to prioritize A, B, C they seem to hear 'Choose one of A, B or C' and they panic and won't make a decision. If however, I ask them to order A, B, C they are much more comfortable and tell me e.g. "C then A then B". I get the result we need and much less stressed stakeholders! Try it and tell me know how you get on!

As a Scrum Master, my role in prioritizing the product increment is to facilitate the process and ensure the team aligns with the product vision and goals set by the Product Owner. Collaborate with the Product Owner to understand the product backlog and the priorities. Facilitate Backlog Refinement to keep it clear and actionable. Encourage team involvement by promoting team participation in backlog discussion. Focus on delivering value by guiding the team to select backlog items that will deliver the most value to the customers and stakeholders. As per the Agile value adapting to the change rather than following a plan which shows team adaptability and flexibility and bring value on business value and feedback.

Consideration of the impact on the user experience. Prioritize items that enhance usability, solve pain points, or address critical issues that affect user satisfaction.

Cost of Delay: Consider the cost of delaying the release of certain features. Some features may have time-sensitive benefits or may be crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Incremental Delivery: Consider breaking down larger features into smaller, incremental releases. This allows for more frequent delivery of value to users and reduces the time between gathering feedback and making improvements.