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Ep.38 Prioritisation: the ‘Buy-a-Feature’ method


Image credit: www.digitalstockport.info
Image credit: www.digitalstockport.info

I continue my Prioritisation series with the ‘Buy-a-Feature’ method:


It helps your agile teams identify (and prioritise) those features that your users value most, by giving them a fixed budget to spend on the proposed items.

Each item’s price is based on their relative development cost, complexity, risk and/or effort.


How do you use the Buy-a-Feature prioritisation method?

1) Generate a list of product enhancements, bug fixes etc. for which you require prioritisation input. Include a ‘price’ for each item.


Pro-tip: vary feature prices in such a way to encourage the audience to co-operate in their purchases; it helps you better understand their motivations!


2) Walk your participants through the list of enhancements, and hand out their ‘currency’. Let the shopping begin!


3) Gain valuable insights by observing the buyers: their discussions, negotiations etc. All provide clues to what is truly valued, and why. Facilitate the discussions and keep things moving by handing our extra ‘currency’ if required.


4) Finally review the purchases, and let them explain their rationale.


This method helps you target your limited resources, by letting your users do the prioritisation for you, whilst you gain valuable insights!


First published here.

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