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Video – The Art of Feature Prioritisation

In this video we explore the concept of Feature Prioritisation.

Posted by: Daniel Boterhoven on Fri Aug 11

AnalysisIdeationProduct Development

In this video we explore the concept of Feature Prioritisation. Prioritising feature development efficiently takes care and practice. We offer an example of how effective feature prioritisation can help you utilise your development budget most effectively.

Transcript

G’day, I’m Dan from Denim Development.

Today I’m going to be talking all about the art of feature prioritisation. It’s a bit of an artform because as humans we typically want to build as much as possible and get as many features into the hands of our customers as possible. But it becomes a problem when you factor in the cost of development, these are typically a bit higher than people often think they might be. So, prioritisation becomes a bit of an art form in that you need to first listen to what your customer say they want, and then you have to learn what they really want – under the hood, and then after that you will want to build only what’s needed. And this art form means that you end up spending your funds in the most effective way.

So, first up is listening to what your customers say they want. And this can be done via a simple feature request form, or face-to-face meetings, talking one-on-one with your customers, also surveys. And you quickly get an idea of what your customers say they want. Your feature backlog will also then grow pretty quickly as well.

Then next step is learning what your customers actually need. The idea round this is that your customers may say they want a Ratings and Review system for a product collection. But, under the hood, what they’re likely asking for is that they want to have more trust and confidence in making their purchases. So from this you need to consider what you can build most effectively to accommodate this need.

Ratings and Review systems, built properly, are very expensive. Google for example has a large team which works on theirs. So first you want to consider the low-hanging fruit. You might look in your feature backlog and then identify that customers are also asking for video testimonials, award sheets, and certification documents, and things like that for products. So what you can do, these things are a lot cheaper to build, you could first off, pick off the low-hanging fruit and tackle these items.

Having implemented those, you wont have implemented as much of your budget straight away. You can then re-evaluate later on once the customers start using these if the confidence and trust factor is still an issue in their purchasing of the products. This is an example of an effective way to prioritise features. You might then realise though that a Ratings and Review system is absolutely necessary. In that case you can budget accordingly and build it.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this, thanks.

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