RICE: Simple prioritization for product managers
RICE: Simple prioritization for product managers
Prioritization is a difficult problem
RICE score: a simple tool for prioritization
RICE: Four factors for assessing priority
RICE is an acronym for the four factors we use to evaluate each project idea: reach, impact, confidence and effort.
Reach
Reach is measured in number of people/events per time period. That might be “customers per quarter” or “transactions per month”. As much as possible, use real measurements from product metrics instead of pulling numbers from a hat.
Example
- Project 1: 500 customers reach this point in the signup funnel each month, and 30% choose this option. The reach is 500 × 30% × 3 = 450 customers per quarter.
- Project 2: Every customer who uses this feature each quarter will see this change. The reach is 2,000 customers per quarter.
- Project 3: This change will have a one-time effect on 800 existing customers, with no ongoing effect. The reach is 800 customers per quarter.
Impact
Estimate the impact on an individual person. Choosing an impact number may seem unscientific. But remember the alternative: a tangled mess of gut feeling.
Example
- Project 1: For each customer who sees it, this will have a huge impact. The impact score is 3.
- Project 2: This will have a lesser impact for each customer. The impact score is 1.
- Project 3: This is somewhere in-between in terms of impact. The impact score is 2.
Confidence
If you think a project could have huge impact but don’t have data to back it up, confidence lets you control that.
Be honest with yourself: how much support do you really have for your estimates?
Example
- Project 1: We have quantitative metrics for reach, user research for impact, and an engineering estimate for effort. This project gets a 100% confidence score.
- Project 2: I have data to support the reach and effort, but I’m unsure about the impact. This project gets an 80% confidence score.
- Project 3: The reach and impact may be lower than estimated, and the effort may be higher. This project gets a 50% confidence score.
Effort
estimate the total amount of time a project will require from all members of your team: product, design, and engineering.
Example
- Project 1: This will take about a week of planning, 1-2 weeks of design, and 2-4 weeks of engineering time. I’ll give it an effort score of 2 person-months.
- Project 2: This project will take several weeks of planning, a significant amount of design time, and at least two months of one engineer’s time. I’ll give it an effort score of 4 person-months.
- Project 3: This only requires a week of planning, no new design, and a few weeks of engineering time. I’ll give it an effort score of 1 person-month.