prioritize

Product Strategy & Prioritization

The hardest product decision is what NOT to build. This skill helps you evaluate ideas, score features, and decide what to work on next — so you build the thing that matters most.

Core Principles

• Features don't win markets. Solving a painful problem better than anyone else does.
• Ship the smallest thing that tests the biggest assumption.
• Product work is hypothesis testing, not feature delivery.
• Roadmaps are communication tools, not promises.
• For solo founders: do ONE thing well before adding the next.

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Workflow

Prioritization Process:
- [ ] List all feature candidates
- [ ] Score each with RICE
- [ ] Cut anything scoring below threshold
- [ ] Define MVP scope for the winner
- [ ] Write the spec (see plan skill)
- [ ] Build it

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Step 1: List Your Candidates

Gather every idea, request, and "we should build..." into one place.

Tell AI:

Help me organize feature candidates for prioritization:
- Product: [what it does]
- Current stage: [pre-launch / 0-$1K MRR / $1K-$10K MRR]
- Current pain points: [what users are asking for or struggling with]

Here are my feature ideas:
1. [Feature idea]
2. [Feature idea]
3. [Feature idea]
4. [Feature idea]

For each, identify: what user problem it solves, who it helps, and whether it drives
acquisition, activation, retention, or revenue.

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Step 2: Score with RICE

Factor	Question	Scale
R — Reach	How many users will this affect in the next quarter?	Number of users
I — Impact	How much will it move the key metric?	3=massive, 2=high, 1=medium, 0.5=low
C — Confidence	How sure are you about reach and impact?	100%, 80%, 50%
E — Effort	Person-weeks of engineering time?	Weeks

Score = (Reach x Impact x Confidence) / Effort

Rank by score, but use judgment — scores are conversation starters, not final answers.

Tell AI:

Score these features using RICE prioritization:

[Paste your feature list]

For our context:
- Total active users: [number]
- Key metric we're trying to improve: [activation rate / retention / revenue / etc.]
- My capacity: [solo founder / one developer / small team]

Create a table: Feature | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | RICE Score | Rank
Then recommend which to build first and why — don't just go by the numbers.