Should we invest more in it?
Okay, todays post is basic product mangement, but still a tool we often use to quickly take decisions on what features we should work on next. The tool is made to be a quick view on the cost/value split between ideas and features. Its the kind of tool you use when you have so many ideas you could work on that you need to prioritise.
The cost/value matrix is super easy to use:
- Write your different ideas on post-it’s.
- Place them along a matrix according to cost and value.
- After you have placed your ideas use the quadrants as a way to prioritise what ideas to work on.
As a manager, I often pull out the matrix to help my teams decide if the idea they are discussing is worth investing more time in or not.
One of the questions I often get when I introduce the cost/value matrix is “but how do we know the value and cost?”. It’s easy, you never will. The matrix is designed to work from your stomach feeling and experience to help you quickly get an idea on prioritization, it should never be the only reason to kill and build a big visionary idea.
When you do a cost/value matrix, include the entire team. As a product manager, you don’t have the technical knowledge to judge if it’s expensive to implement or not, and as a tech lead you have no idea about the value.