Planning
MoSCoW prioritization template
Sort requirements into must have, should have, could have and won't have this time.
What it is
MoSCoW is a way to prioritise requirements that became popular through the DSDM agile method. Each item goes into one of four groups: must have, should have, could have or won't have this time. The capital letters spell the name. The Won't group does a lot of the work, because it records what you agreed to leave out.
When to use it
- When a release has more scope than time
- In a meeting with stakeholders who each think their feature comes first
- Before a fixed deadline, like a launch date or a trade show
How to run it
- 01
List every requirement
Write each feature or task on its own note next to the board.
- 02
Define must have strictly
A must have is something the release fails without. If there is a workaround, it is a should have.
- 03
Sort as a group
Drag each note into a column and watch the size of Must have. If it holds most of the notes, sort again.
- 04
Write down the won'ts
Keep the Won't have frame and share the board. It answers "what happened to my feature?" before anyone asks.
Opens a new board from this prompt:
"MoSCoW prioritisation for the first version of a sports club app, with payments, events and chat as candidates"
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