17 Oct Prioritization Grid
Prioritization grids provide an easy-to-use way of plotting what is important to your clients in relation to its feasibility to the organization or product or project. Its function is to retain the experience of users as a (if not the) central factor in the prioritization of features and activities.
when to use
HCD Process Phase:
Ideation
BABOK Knowledge Area: Requirements Lifecycle Management
PMI-BA Domain: Traceability and Monitoring
OVERVIEW
Prioritization grids stress the importance of user and customer input from the beginning of a project.
Importance as a ranking element in the grid is owned by users, and not the project team. This means the project team must conduct proper in-depth research with users to comprehensively capture how users define “importance” within the project context.
Feasibility, as the contrasting ranking element, is owned by the organization and therefore is defined by it. Feasibility isn’t to be simplified to just technology as is usually the case; the definition must include a 360 degree view of an organization’s capacity to deliver on all related fronts.
A prioritization grid brings these two elements together to arrive at prioritization groupings.
BASIC STEPS
1. Complete your research processes
Completing a prioritization grid before completing the research cycle is putting the wood needed to build the cart before the horse.
It is only through your research activities that the importance factor can be properly defined and considered.
2. Create the grid
There are various templates you can use to draw your prioritization grid. At a minimum, your grid must include importance and feasibility as the axes.
Example of a prioritization grid via IBM
You can define feasibility in your way, such as financial (see example above) or ease of completion (e.g. easy – difficult). Use what works for the situation.
3. Complete the grid
Evaluate each item and then plot onto the grid where it makes sense to you.
Once everything is on the grid, initiate conversations with others to capture their input. Adjust positions as consensus arises.
4. Spend time to gain value
If you are working on a product for which you have external or even internal customers, spend more time uncovering additional value.
For example, look at your quick wins or best bests or high ranking items and think on how to make them more feasible or more important. Tap into the creativity of the team and customers to push the ‘bigger, better, faster’ bounds out farther for what you are delivering.