Editor’s note: This article was updated 15 January 2025 by Bart Krawczyk to have a broader scope and remove irrelevant information. The update also adds a range of prioritization frameworks and use cases.
Let’s face it: Prioritization is often stressful and energy-consuming.
With many competing priorities, multiple stakeholders’ requests coming your way, and often more than one initiative on your plate, defining what’s more important is tough.
It’s unavoidable though.
Since you can’t change the environment that product people operate in, the best thing you can do is simplify the whole prioritization process.
There’s a reason why prioritization matrices are one of the most common product prioritization frameworks. They turn complexity into simplicity.
A prioritization matrix is a prioritization framework that visualizes priorities based on input criteria.
For example, one of the most common prioritization matrices is effort x impact one. For each backlog item, you score what business or user impact you expect and what the expected effort is.
This helps you quickly categorize opportunities into the most important and the least important:
Is it a scientific and accurate method to prioritize? No. Is it simple and efficient? Yes.
What I learned from almost a decade of experience working with products is that the simplest methods usually work the best. There’s not as much science in product management as we sometimes believe there is.
Let’s take a look at a few of the most common prioritization matrix frameworks:
The value versus effort matrix is the fastest yet most simplified approach to prioritization.
I personally use it as a pre-prioritization framework. If there are many items to prioritize, sort them quickly using the value versus effort matrix and then focus on the top 30 percent with somewhat more accurate matrices.
RICE is a more developed version of value versus effort that considers four input scores, namely:
*For later math, I recommend reverse scoring for effort. That is, the lower the effort, the higher the score.
At the end, summarize the scores for each assessed item. The higher the score, the higher the priority:
Although the Eisenhower matrix is often used for personal prioritization, it can also be used for product item prioritization.
Consider two categories of input scores:
Items that are both important and urgent should be worked on first.
If something is urgent but not important, you can try to find a team where delivering the initiative is more important.
Items that are important yet not urgent should be pushed to discovery and proper planning. If you have time to get it done right, then get it done right; don’t rush it.
Things that are neither urgent nor important shouldn’t be in the backlog.
As you can see, all prioritization matrices follow the same structure, that is:
In reality, you can use any set of input criteria for the prioritization.
Are you an international product that cares about scalability? Use scalability as one of the criteria.
Are you in growth mode? Add growth potential as a factor.
Are you in revenue mode? Add revenue as a factor.
Play around with a set of criteria that makes the most sense in your context. It’s actually a great way to kickstart important discussions within the company. What criteria are actually the most important for you when making decisions?
If you want to try using a prioritization matrix yourself, here’s a simple step-by-step guide:
Start by gathering all the items you want to prioritize in a single place.
You can either invite stakeholders to the very first prioritization session, or you can do the exercise alone first. I often do the exercise alone and then invite stakeholders to review and validate it.
Both ways work just fine.
Honestly, pick whatever feels the best. I would just avoid RICE or any other complex setups if you have close to a hundred items to prioritize — that would be a painfully long session.
Do the scoring related to the framework and see how the priorities are laid out.
Many people forget that part, but the prioritization happens through discussions. The goal of the framework is to give you input and help you focus your energy on items with the most potential, but prioritization is about much more than just scoring some items.
Although simple in nature, prioritization matrices come with many benefits. The most notable include:
Having a quantitative framework to assess ideas helps pre-prioritize quickly without needless discussions and going through the details of each item.
They bring clarity. You’ll have much less explaining of “why we picked X over Y.”
Discussing specific criteria makes the discussion more focused. If someone disagrees with the priority, they have to challenge a specific factor, such as estimated value or effort, rather than just a high-level, “I believe X is more important for us.”
If you are using a prioritization matrix, be aware of the three most common mistakes I see people using:
The more criteria you use, the more scientific it feels. But in reality, you’re just adding complexity. The goal of the prioritization matrix is to provide a good starting point for further discussion, so focus on getting just enough details.
Let me repeat: The prioritization matrix doesn’t replace the job of a product manager. Don’t blindly follow the outcome of the prioritization exercise; instead, use it for further discussion.
Prioritization is a strategic exercise, not a mathematical one.
The biggest value of the prioritization exercises is the discussion during them. Make sure to have the right people who can deliver valuable input and challenge each other if necessary.
Prioritization matrices are excellent tools, but not because they’re great at actually prioritizing stuff. They’re a fantastic conversation starter. They force you to define what criteria are most important for you to consider, and with every initiative, they push you to consider how it performs regarding specified criteria. It also makes discussions more tangible and focused on relevant factors than just opinions.
In short, prioritization matrices are great for driving conversations and making decisions faster.
Featured image source: IconScout
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