Welcome to the Planning & Prioritization Jargon Guide — your go-to resource for decoding key terms and frameworks in product decision-making. From roadmapping to backlog grooming, get clear, practical definitions to help you prioritize better, align teams, and execute with focus.
RICE Scoring
A prioritization framework that helps evaluate ideas based on Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort.
Example: A feature with high reach and low effort scores higher and gets prioritized sooner.
MoSCoW Method
A technique for categorizing features or tasks into Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have.
Use Case: Helps align stakeholders on what truly matters in a release.
Effort vs. Impact Matrix
A 2×2 grid to evaluate and prioritize tasks based on how much effort they require vs. the impact they deliver.
Example: “Low-effort, high-impact” tasks go first; “high-effort, low-impact” often get dropped.
Kano Model
A framework that classifies features into Basic, Performance, and Delighters based on customer satisfaction.
Use Case: Helps prioritize what users expect vs. what will truly excite them.
Now-Next-Later Roadmap
A time-based prioritization model that groups initiatives into immediate, upcoming, and future categories.
Benefit: Provides clarity without committing to fixed deadlines.
Weighted Scoring Model
A structured way to rank features by assigning weights to criteria like business value, customer impact, and cost.
Sign: Helps remove bias and brings objectivity to prioritization discussions.
Sprint Goal
A short, clear statement that defines the focus of a sprint.
Use Case: Aligns the team around one primary outcome for the sprint, not just tasks.
Capacity Planning
The process of estimating how much work your team can realistically handle in a given time frame.
Use Case: Ensures planning is aligned with team velocity and avoids overcommitment.
Backlog Grooming
The process of reviewing, updating, and organizing the product backlog
to ensure items are well-defined and prioritized.
Use Case: Keeps the team focused on ready-to-build tasks and reduces last-minute chaos.
Timeboxing
Allocating a fixed amount of time to an activity, regardless of how much is completed.
Use Case: Helps manage scope and avoid analysis paralysis during
planning and execution.
100-Dollar Test
Each stakeholder gets $100 (hypothetically) to spend across a list of features.
Use Case: Reveals which features are seen as most valuable across the board.
Cost of Delay (CoD)
Measures how much revenue, user value, or opportunity is lost by delaying a feature or decision.
Use Case: Prioritize high-impact features where delay is costly.
Prune the Product Tree
A collaborative activity where stakeholders “grow” product ideas like branches and “prune” unnecessary ones.
Use Case: Visual way to prioritize ideas while reinforcing product vision.
Buy-a-Feature
A stakeholder exercise where participants get a virtual budget to “buy”
features they value most.
Use Case: Aligns cross-functional teams on what matters through a gamified approach.
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