Prioritise
Systemico model
Also called Systemico
Lay the backlog out by the user goal each item serves and how engaged a user must be to care, from core needs to exploring further.
- Time60 to 90 minutes
- People2 to 8 people
- Steps3
What it's for
A backlog in one long list hides why each item is there. The Systemico model lays it out against two questions: which user goal does this serve, and how engaged does someone have to be to care? Items that meet a goal's core need come first; then those that make it easy to use; then those that bring people back; and last, those that invite them to explore further.
It suits new products, where there is little evidence yet and the team needs to agree what a first useful version looks like for each goal.
How to run it
Name the user goals10 min
Rename each row as a goal people come to the product for, in their words.
Place the backlog20 min
Put each story or feature in its goal's row, under the level of engagement it belongs to.
Draw the first release10 min
Agree which cells make a first release: usually core for every goal, and use for the most important one.
Tips
- Release across goals first when people need the whole journey to work. Go deep on one goal when it's worth using on its own.
- An empty core cell is a gap: a goal the product claims to serve without the basics.
Where it comes from
Described by Barry O'Reilly, a co-author of Lean Enterprise, on his blog, as a way to see value as a system rather than a queue of stories.
Pairs well with
User story map
Lay out what a user does from left to right, the details under each step, then slice releases across the map.
Feature buckets
Sort ideas into metrics movers, customer requests, delighters and strategic bets, so each release has a balance of all four.
Kano model
Sort features by how customers react to them: basics they expect, performance they want more of, and delights they don't expect.