Traditional frameworks are useful for prioritizing your product backlog but can be time-consuming and cumbersome. In the dynamic world of product management, the ability to act quickly without sacrificing quality is essential.
How can you bring in practicality and common sense to streamline this process?
-> The Baseline: “Three Ws” Approach
Start with the “Three Ws” to lay a foundational understanding for each backlog item:
- Why?: What problem will this solve?
- Who?: Who benefits from this?
- When?: When is the best time to implement it?
–> The Movie Trailer Technique
What would you highlight if you could encapsulate your product’s key features in a 30-second movie trailer?
This approach focuses on the “wow” factors—those game-changing elements that will engage users and make them excited about your product.
–> Traffic Light Technique
Divide your backlog into three categories: Red, Yellow, and Green. Red items need further evaluation. Yellow items are to be approached with caution. Green items are good to go.
This provides an immediate visual guide for prioritization, enabling rapid yet well-considered decisions.
–> Takeaways:
- Begin with the “Three Ws” for a foundational framework.
- Supplement this with quick and unconventional techniques like “The Movie Trailer Technique” and “Traffic Light Technique” to enable agile decision-making.
By integrating the foundational “Three Ws” with these quicker, practical techniques, you will manage to strike the right balance between effectiveness and efficiency in your backlog prioritization.
The next time your backlog starts feeling overwhelming, these techniques can offer a simpler, more practical path forward.