As Business Analysts (BAs), one of our most critical tasks is managing and defining requirements for various projects in one go. Among the many challenges we face, one of the most crucial is requirement prioritization. A well-organized set of requirements will also ensure that engineers, programmers, and database analysts build the most essential components of a project in accordance with business objectives.

What is Requirement Prioritization?
Requirement prioritization is the process of determining the relative importance of each requirement within a project, ensuring that the most critical needs are addressed first. In a world of limited resources, this process is essential to managing expectations, aligning stakeholder interests, and ensuring that the project delivers the highest value possible.

Why is Requirement Prioritization Critical?

1. Resource Management: No project has unlimited time, money, or human resources. By
prioritizing requirements, setting criteria in order of importance allows us to more effectively
distribute resources to the most critical demands.
2. Stakeholder Alignment: Priorities may differ throughout stakeholders. Clarity brought forth by requirement prioritizing helps guarantee that everyone is on the same page regarding the
project’s most crucial objectives.
3. Minimizing Scope Creep: Scope creep—where the project scope expands uncontrollably—is a common risk in projects. Proper prioritization prevents unnecessary or less important features from being added to the project, reducing scope creep and keeping the project on track.
4. Maximizing Business Value: We provide the most value to the business early and frequently by concentrating on high-priority requirements.

Let’s dive deeper into each of the requirement prioritization techniques mentioned above and explore how they work with examples to make them more concrete.

1. MoSCoW Method

This system employs four priority categories instead of numbers: MUST have, SHOULD have, COULD have, and WON’T have. Stakeholders can evaluate requirements in a collaborative manner using this technique. The abbreviation stands for the following:

MUST(Mandatory)
SHOULD (Of high priority)
COULD (Preferred but not necessary)
WOULD (Can be postponed and suggested for future execution)

● Must Have: These are features that are essential for the success of the app. Without them, the app cannot function properly or meet the basic needs of users.
○ Example: User login capabilities, safe payment processing, and the ability to add things
to the shopping cart..

● Should Have: These features are important but not essential. The app will function without them, but they will significantly improve user experience.
○ Example: product recommendations based on user preferences and push notifications
for sale alerts.

● Could Have: These are nice-to-have features that could enhance the app but are not required
for launch. These can be added later if resources are available.
○ Example: Social media sharing buttons, product reviews, or a wishlist feature.

● Won’t Have: These are features that are either not included in the current version of the app or will not be included at all.
○ Example: virtual reality shopping features.

2. Kano Model
Kano analysis was designed by Prof. Noriaki Kano in 1980. It was not designed for the software industry but is being used quite effectively in alliterative methodologies like SCRUM. In this methodology, a question-based approach is used.

All the participants are asked questions to answer questions based on importance:
● Rate your satisfaction if you have this feature
● Rate your dissatisfaction if you don’t have this feature

Let’s take the same mobile e-commerce app as an example:

● Basic Needs: These are the fundamental features that customers expect. If these are not met, they will be dissatisfied, but fulfilling them won’t increase satisfaction.
○ Example: The ability to browse products and make a purchase. If these aren’t working,
users will be extremely unhappy.

● Performance Needs: These features improve satisfaction proportionally. The better they are implemented, the more delighted the customers will be.
○ Example: Fast loading times, easy navigation, and smooth checkout process. The better
the performance in these areas, the more satisfied the user will be.

● Excitement Needs: These features are unexpected and can create a “wow” factor. When
implemented, they can delight users and significantly boost satisfaction, but their absence won’t lead to dissatisfaction.
○ Example: Personalized product suggestions based on AI or an augmented reality feature
for viewing products in a real-world environment.

● Indifferent Needs: These features don’t really affect customer satisfaction much. They can be seen as low priority.
○ Example: A customized app color scheme. While it might be appreciated, it doesn’t
directly impact the core experience of shopping.

By using the Kano Model, BAs can prioritize based on customer expectations and the potential impact on user satisfaction.

3. 100-Point Method
Stakeholders assign a fixed number of points (usually 100) to different needs according to their significance in the 100-Point Method. This approach helps quantify the prioritization process.

Let’s take an example from a new mobile app development project:

●Stakeholders are asked to distribute 100 points across a list of features (e.g., login functionality, push notifications, social media integration, offline mode).
● Feature 1 (Login): 40 points
● Feature 2 (Push Notifications): 30 points
● Feature 3 (Offline Mode): 20 points
● Feature 4 (Social Media Integration): 10 points

This approach guarantees that resources are distributed properly by providing a clear visual
representation of the characteristics that stakeholders value most.

4. Five Whys
It is common for stakeholders to wish to deploy a feature for reasons that are not based on logical arguments or the company’s best interests. With the five whys method, the analyst asks the stakeholder why the demand is necessary five times or less until the importance of therequirements is established. The answers tell if the requirement is indeed necessary or whether it may be canceled or postponed after the priority has been established.

Conclusion
So, what is the most effective requirement prioritization techniques? The one that best meets your requirements and achieves your objectives in the shortest length of time and with the least number of resources is the best choice. Once you have a general notion of which approaches will be useful for your project, you can test them out in real life to see how well they operate in your situation.