Introduction
The RICE Scoring Model is a prioritization tool that focuses on the potential Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort pertaining a given idea. Specifically:
- How many people does the product/feature reach?
- What impact does the product/feature deliver?
- How confident are you in the product/feature?
- What is the level of effort required to deliver the product/feature?
How do I use the RICE Scoring Model?
The RICE Scoring Model is a bit more detailed than other prioritization methods such as the MoSCoW Method. When you have a bit more time to work with and need some more granularity with your prioritization, you’ll use something like RICE.
(Reach * Impact * Confidence) / Effort = RICE Score
For each one of the 4 variables, define how you will measure it numerically. A good starting point could look like:
Reach
The number of customers you think your product or feature will reach.
Impact
How significantly your product or feature will affect your customers. A simple measure you could use would be:
- Critical impact = 3
- High impact = 2
- Medium impact = 1
- Low impact = 0.5
- Very low impact = 0.25
Confidence
How confident are you with your estimates for reach, impact, and effort? It’ll be a number between 1 and 100. A simple approach here would be:
- High confidence = 100
- Medium confidence = 75
- Low confidence = 50
Note anything with lower than “low confidence” is highly likely to suggest your priorities should be elsewhere.
Effort
How much effort will a particular number of resource take to deliver the product or feature? A common measure of time used is weeks. So, for example, if you think a team of 3 developers can hammer out a feature in 2 weeks, then you’d go 3 developers * 2 weeks = 6 developer-weeks for your effort.
Conclusion
Once you’ve applied the RICE Scoring Model to a list of products/features you’re considering, then generally you want to work highest to lowest RICE. It’s not something set in stone (e.g. you don’t have to do a RICE Score of 200 before a 190), but instead a guideline to help you guide your focus.
From experience, I recommend that all product managers set aside some time you determine the RICE scores of every feature set in their backlog (note I said “set”). This will help you not only build a strategic roadmap for your product, but help you make decisions when you may need to choose between two or more opportunities within a limiting time constraint.