

Likewise, the amount of effort required to implement a feature may be underestimated. Gathering this information helps empower product teams to make the most accurate valuations of features before prioritizing them. Product teams should understand their target audience, their goals and desired outcomes, their competitors, their market, and common issues with similar solutions. This is why thorough research is so important. By which point, so much effort would be invested without bringing the return expected. Teams may view one idea as being a huge benefit to users, though this proves to be inaccurate down the line. However, one key drawback of the value versus effort model is the potential for over- or underestimating a feature’s value. Product managers may find assigning the right people to the right tasks that bit easier when they know which features are critical to a product’s success.
#Lean priority matrix how to#
Download now: Get our 5-minute guide on How To Use the Value vs Effort ModelĪs a result, the value versus effort model can help to increase productivity and revenue. This creates a rigid structure and reduces the risk of investing time, money, and effort into implementing features that essentially go nowhere. The main benefit of using the value versus effort model is that product teams can identify which features stand to make the most positive impact on users and at what cost. Pros and cons of using the value versus effort model "Incrementals" may bring in some value and at a low cost, but are considered non-essential to maximizing a product’s value. They’re still a priority, but they’re more difficult to implement, particularly for small teams tackling large projects. "Big bets" are more of a risk: they stand to bring in high value but at a significant cost. They deserve to be prioritized and could deliver a better user experience with little investment. As a result, you can consider them a given. Those features falling into the "easy wins" category involve little effort but promise high value. But if this process reveals they actually offer little value in exchange for so much effort, it’s in everyone’s best interest to remove them from the roadmap. Product teams can gain at-a-glance insights into which features are worth running with and which should be scrapped.ĭeciding to eliminate "money pit" ideas can be difficult, especially if they’re a favorite of the team or are considered to have potential. Generally, the standard title for each is "easy wins", "big bets", "incremental", and "money pit".īy dividing the chart into four equal zones, prioritization becomes much simpler. The position at which you place a feature based on its value and effort will fall into one of four areas.

When measuring effort, consider the amount of time (hours per week multiplied by the number of weeks overall, for example), money, and resources required to add a feature to the product successfully. This can be a time-consuming process and research will be required to provide the most authentic measurements. Product teams work together to assess the amount of each as accurately as possible.Įach feature’s value may be based on such elements as its ability to help attract new users, whether the new feature will benefit all users or just some, the amount of revenue that may be generated by implementing the feature, and how effective it will be in retaining users. This can be represented as a simple chart, with a vertical axis marked "value" and the horizontal marked "effort". The lean prioritization matrix involves measuring the value and effort involved in ideas that may be pursued. Download Now: Get our eBook on Mastering Prioritization Too much of the latter and not enough of the former can impact potential profitability. The aim is to create a product that offers maximum value but with a manageable level of effort. Product teams can take advantage of a lean prioritization matrix to determine which features are crucial and which pose the highest risk. How can product teams measure value versus effort?
