Introduction: Requirements Prioritisation Techniques
Effectively prioritising requirements is crucial to delivering solutions that align with stakeholder needs and organisational goals. Requirements prioritisation techniques ensure that the most critical features are addressed first, optimising resource allocation and enhancing project outcomes.
Key Takeaways
- Requirements prioritisation is essential for aligning project outcomes with business goals and ensuring critical features are delivered first.
- Techniques such as MoSCoW, Kano Model, Weighted Scoring, 100-Dollar Test, and AHP provide structured approaches to rank requirements based on business value, urgency, cost, and stakeholder input.
- Stakeholder collaboration is key—involving the right people early leads to better decision-making and increased buy-in.
- Business value, risk, cost, compliance, and delivery timelines are all important factors to consider when evaluating priorities.
- Requirements prioritisation is not a one-off activity—review and adjust regularly as business needs evolve and new information emerges.
Why Requirements Prioritisation Matters
Prioritising requirements is not just about ranking features; it’s about strategic decision-making that impacts the success of a project. By identifying and focusing on high-value requirements, business analysts can:
- Ensure alignment with business objectives
- Optimise use of limited resources
- Enhance stakeholder satisfaction
- Reduce time-to-market for critical features
Neglecting proper requirements prioritisation can lead to resource wastage, stakeholder dissatisfaction, and project delays.
Common Requirements Prioritisation Techniques
Several techniques can aid in effectively prioritising requirements:
1. MoSCoW Method
This technique categorises requirements into:
- Must have: Essential features without which the system fails
- Should have: Important but not vital features
- Could have: Desirable but non-essential features
- Won’t have: Features not planned for the current scope
The MoSCoW method facilitates clear communication among stakeholders regarding feature importance.
2. Kano Model
This model assesses requirements based on customer satisfaction:
- Basic needs: Fundamental features expected by users
- Performance needs: Features that increase satisfaction proportionally
- Excitement needs: Unexpected features that delight users
The Kano Model helps in understanding customer expectations and prioritising features that enhance user satisfaction.
3. Weighted Scoring
Assigns numerical values to requirements based on criteria such as business value, risk, and cost. The total scores determine the priority order.
4. 100-Dollar Test
Stakeholders distribute a hypothetical $100 among requirements, reflecting their perceived importance. This technique quantifies stakeholder preferences effectively.
5. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)
A structured method that involves pairwise comparisons of requirements to establish priorities. AHP is beneficial for complex decision-making scenarios.
Factors Influencing Requirements Prioritisation
Several factors should be considered when prioritising requirements:
- Business Value: Contribution to organisational goals
- Cost: Resources required for implementation
- Risk: Potential challenges and uncertainties
- Time Sensitivity: Urgency of requirement implementation
- Regulatory Compliance: Legal and policy obligations
Evaluating these factors ensures a balanced and informed prioritisation process.
Best Practices for Effective Requirements Prioritisation
- Engage Stakeholders: Collaborate with all relevant parties to gather diverse perspectives.
- Document Rationale: Maintain records of prioritisation decisions for transparency.
- Review Regularly: Reassess priorities as project dynamics evolve.
- Use Visual Aids: Employ charts and matrices to illustrate prioritisation clearly.
Implementing these practices enhances the effectiveness of requirements prioritisation efforts.
By applying these techniques and considerations, business analysts can ensure that requirements prioritisation contributes positively to project success and stakeholder satisfaction.
Useful Links
1. Requirements Prioritisation, by ExpertBA. This article describes 5 requirements prioritisation techniques and discusses why it is important for business analysts to work with the organisation to determine priorities. The ExpertBA says this: “Eliciting the requirements and fit them into the releases to develop the functionality is a major step towards the success of the development of the software/project and it’s very important to understand the risk of not prioritizing the requirements.”
2. An agile and collaborative prioritisation technique, by Requirements Engineering Magazine. This article proposes a collaborative prioritisation approach for epics and themes based on agile methods and techniques that are already well established in agile environments. I particularly like that upfront the article states that the weak point is how to determine which requirements are most important. It’s a lengthy read but well worth it!
3. Prioritizing requirements – three techniques, by Tyner Blain. Tyner describes three techniques: classical, exhaustive and value-based. He states: “The less we know about our client’s business, the more the requirements appear to be equivalent…” and uses a McDonald’s analogy to emphasis his point, which is a great lesson learnt.