Purpose
Turn a messy list of competing feature requests and initiatives into a defensible, ranked roadmap by scoring each one against a consistent framework — producing per-initiative scores, transparent rationale, and a recommended build sequence a PM can bring straight into a planning meeting.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Decide what to build next or sequence a backlog
- Score initiatives with RICE, ICE, or Value vs. Effort
- Reconcile competing requests coming from sales, support, leadership, and users
- Defend or justify a prioritization decision to stakeholders
- Re-rank a roadmap after new data, deadlines, or capacity changes
- Compare two or three initiatives that are all "top priority"
Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- Initiative list: The features, epics, or bets to rank — name plus a 1–2 sentence description of each
- Framework: RICE, ICE, or Value/Effort (default to RICE if unspecified)
- Reach data (per initiative): Estimated users or accounts affected per time period, or best-guess proxy
- Business goal: The primary outcome this quarter (revenue, retention, activation, cost reduction) so "Impact" is scored against something real
- Effort estimates: Rough sizing per initiative — person-weeks, T-shirt size, or story points
- Constraints: Hard deadlines, dependencies, compliance/legal must-dos, or capacity ceilings
- Confidence notes: Which estimates are data-backed vs. gut-feel (used to set the Confidence factor honestly)
If reach, effort, or confidence data is partial, score with reasonable estimates, flag each assumption inline, and mark low-confidence scores explicitly rather than inflating them.
Instructions
Step 1: Confirm the Framework and Its Scoring Rules
Lock the scoring model before touching any initiative.
- RICE: Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort
- Reach: number of people/accounts affected per period (e.g., per quarter)
- Impact: 3 = massive, 2 = high, 1 = medium, 0.5 = low, 0.25 = minimal
- Confidence: 100% = high, 80% = medium, 50% = low (penalizes guesswork)
- Effort: total person-months (or person-weeks — keep the unit constant)
- ICE: Score = (Impact × Confidence × Ease) ÷ each rated 1–10, then averaged or multiplied — state which. Faster, lower-rigor, good for early-stage lists.
- Value/Effort: Plot each initiative on a 2×2 (High/Low Value × High/Low Effort) and prioritize Quick Wins → Big Bets → Fill-ins → avoid Money Pits.
State the exact formula and rating scale being used so every score is reproducible.
Step 2: Score Each Initiative Component by Component
For every initiative, assign each factor with a one-line justification — never a bare number.
- Tie Impact to the stated business goal, not to generic "user delight"
- Set Confidence based on the confidence notes: data-backed → high, informed estimate → medium, speculation → low
- Keep the Effort unit identical across all initiatives (mixing weeks and months invalidates the ranking)
- Where an input is missing, use a stated proxy and mark it as an assumption
Step 3: Calculate and Rank
- Compute the framework score for each initiative
- Sort descending into a ranked table
- Round scores to a readable precision (whole numbers or one decimal), but preserve raw values for tie-breaks
Step 4: Apply Tie-Breaks and Override Logic
Pure scores don't capture everything — layer in judgment transparently.
- Ties (within ~10% score): break by strategic alignment to the primary goal, then by lower effort
- Hard overrides: compliance/legal must-dos, contractual deadlines, and unblocking dependencies get sequenced ahead of raw score — flag each override explicitly with the reason
- Dependency ordering: if a high-ranked item depends on a lower-ranked one, note the required sequence shift
- Sandbagging check: flag any initiative that ranks high only because of an inflated Reach or optimistic Confidence
Step 5: Recommend a Build Sequence
Translate the ranking into an actionable order.
- Group into Now / Next / Later (or Sprint 1 / Sprint 2 / Backlog)
- Note capacity: how far down the list realistic capacity reaches given the effort estimates
- Call out the single item most likely to be contested and pre-arm the PM with the one-line defense
Output Format
- Structure: Framework declaration → ranked scoring table → per-initiative rationale → tie-break/override notes → recommended build sequence
- Length: 700–1,100 words plus the table
- Format: A ranked table (rank, initiative, each factor, final score) followed by structured bullets
- Sections: Framework & Formula → Ranked Scoring Table → Scoring Rationale → Overrides & Tie-Breaks → Recommended Sequence (Now/Next/Later) → Contested Call to Watch
- Tone: Decisive product-lead — quantitative, transparent about assumptions, willing to make a call and defend it
Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] Every initiative provided has a complete score with all framework factors filled in
- [ ] The scoring formula and rating scale are stated explicitly and applied identically to every initiative
- [ ] Effort is expressed in one consistent unit across all initiatives
- [ ] Every assumption or proxy used for missing data is flagged inline
- [ ] All hard overrides (compliance, deadlines, dependencies) are called out with reasons, not buried in the score
- [ ] The output ends with a concrete Now/Next/Later sequence, not just a raw ranked list
Notes
- RICE is best when you have real reach and effort data; ICE is faster for early-stage or exploratory lists; Value/Effort is best for a lightweight stakeholder-friendly visual
- The Confidence factor is the most-skipped and most-valuable input — honest low-confidence scores prevent shiny-but-unproven bets from jumping the queue
- A prioritization is only as trustworthy as its inputs; when reach or effort is a guess, say so rather than manufacturing false precision
- If two initiatives keep trading ranks under small assumption changes, that's a signal to run a quick discovery spike before committing, not to force a decision
How to use this skill
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Installing in Claude Code:
~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md— auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)<your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md— auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)
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- Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
- Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits
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