Purpose and Description

• Requirements prioritization determines the relative importance of requirements in order to gain maximum value to each other and to implement the overall solution scope.
• Ranking the requirements by their importance to stakeholders is the way most business analysts perform this task.
• There are many ways to prioritize requirements.
• The requirements prioritization scheme needs to be planned and defined for the business analysis team prior to eliciting requirements information at any level of detail.
• The priority of a specific requirement or group of requirements may alter over time as the context and level of detailed knowledge changes.

Inputs

• Requirements: Any requirements in the form of text, matrices, or diagrams that are ready to prioritize.
• Designs: Any designs in the form of text, prototypes, or diagrams that are ready to prioritize.

Elements

• Basis for Prioritization:
  • Agreed upon by relevant stakeholders
  • Typical prioritization factors: Benefit, Penalty, Cost, Risk, Dependencies, Time Sensitivity, Stability, Regulatory or Policy Compliance
• Challenges of Prioritization:
  • Assessment of relative value
  • Different stakeholders may value different things, leading to potential conflicts
• Continual Prioritization:
  • Priorities may shift as the context evolves and more information becomes available
  • Prioritization is done at a more granular level as requirements are further refined

Output

• Requirements (prioritized): Prioritized or ranked requirements are available for additional work, ensuring that the highest valued requirements are addressed first.
• Designs (prioritized): Prioritized or ranked designs are available for additional work, ensuring that the highest valued designs are addressed first.