Prioritizing the backlog is one of the core responsibilities of product managers. It helps the team focus on work that has the greatest potential to benefit the business and users. Prioritization is also a way to filter a long list of ideas and tasks, which usually outweigh the available time and energy.

There are many prioritization methods, each with its own pros and cons. We’ve selected four simple and popular methods that don’t require significant preparation and compiled them into this cheat sheet.

It will help you choose the optimal approach among the following methods:

  • ICE
  • RICE
  • MoSCoW
  • Value vs. Effort

ICE

Criteria

  • Impact (effect on users)
  • Confidence (confidence in success)
  • Ease (ease of implementation)

When to use

  • Quick comparison of ideas
  • Early‑stage planning

Pros

  • Low complexity
  • Fast to apply
  • Suitable for any product

Cons

  • Subjective scoring
  • Simplifies reality

Rules

  1. Rate each parameter from 1 to 10.
  2. Multiply the scores and prioritize the tasks with higher totals.

Formula

ICE = Impact × Confidence × Ease

ICE = Impact × Confidence × Ease

Example

Should we add biometric authentication to the product? Evaluate the idea based on relevant metrics and experience:

  • Impact = 8
  • Confidence = 9
  • Ease = 7

ICE = 8 × 9 × 7 = 504

Compare the result with the score for other ideas.

🔗 A template for Miro.

RICE

Criteria

  • Reach (how many people it will affect)
  • Impact (effect on each user)
  • Confidence (how much we trust our estimates)
  • Effort (difficulty of implementation)

When to use

  • Growth stage
  • Release planning

Pros

  • Takes reach into account
  • Suitable for mature products

Cons

  • Requires solid data
  • Risk of bias

Rules

  1. Gather data on reach.
  2. Use a scale of 0–3 for Impact.
  3. Use 0–100 % for Confidence.
  4. Use months for Effort.
  5. Calculate (R*I*C)/E

Formula

RICE = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

RICE = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

Example

Should we translate the product into Spanish? Evaluate the idea based on relevant metrics and experience:

  • Reach = 5,000
  • Impact = 2
  • Confidence = 80 %
  • Effort = 2.5

RICE = (5 000 × 2 × 0.8) / 2.5 = 3 200

Compare the result with the score of other ideas.

🔗 A template for Miro.

MoSCoW

Criteria

  • Must have (essential feature)
  • Should have (desirable feature)
  • Could have (nice to have feature)
  • Won’t have (not now)

When to use

  • MVP
  • Release planning

Pros

  • Simple
  • Useful in team discussions

Cons

  • Vague categories
  • Not well suited to a large volume of tasks

Rules

  1. Discuss the categories with the team.
  2. Limit the number of Must have features (those without which the product is not viable) to a few (three to five) tasks so you don’t end up labeling everything as Must have.
MoSCoW

Example

You have 15 ideas and tasks. You discuss them with the team, and each participant votes on the priority level based on their expertise.

It is decided that:

  • 3 ideas 🟢 = Must have
  • 5 ideas 🔵 = Should have
  • 3 ideas 🟡 = Could have
  • 4 ideas 🔴 = Won’t have

🔗 A template for Miro.

Value vs. Effort

Criteria

  • Value
  • Effort

When to use

  • Quick planning
  • Limited resources

Pros

  • Visual
  • Simple

Con

  • Rough estimates

Rules

  1. Draw a 2 × 2 matrix.
  2. For each idea or task, rate its Value (using metrics) and its Effort (using timeframes) on your chosen scale (1–5 or 1–10, whichever is more convenient).

You will end up with four quadrants.

Value vs. Effort

🔗 A template for Miro.