Requirements & Prioritization
Writing Good Requirements
A well-written requirement answers:
- Who is this for?
- What problem does it solve?
- What does success look like?
- What are the edge cases and constraints?
User Stories
As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].
User stories are a placeholder for conversation, not a detailed spec. Pair them with acceptance criteria.
Acceptance Criteria
Use the Given / When / Then format:
Given a user is on the checkout page
When they enter an invalid coupon code
Then they see an inline error message
And the total is unchangedPrioritization Frameworks
RICE
| Factor | Question |
|---|---|
| Reach | How many users will this impact per time period? |
| Impact | How much will this move the needle? (scale: 0.25–3) |
| Confidence | How sure are we about the estimates? (scale: 0–100%) |
| Effort | How many person-days will this take? |
RICE Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort
MoSCoW
| Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Must have | Critical for launch / viability |
| Should have | Important but not critical |
| Could have | Nice to have |
| Won’t have | Explicitly out of scope |
Opportunity Scoring
Ask users: How important is X? How satisfied are you with X?
Opportunity = Importance − Satisfaction
Bigger gap = bigger opportunity.
Avoiding Sunk Cost
- Prioritise based on expected value, not how much work has been done
- Kill features that don’t show impact — even if you’ve invested heavily
- Celebrate learning (pivots, kill decisions) as much as shipping