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Rank MVP features with RICE and MoSCoW
List up to 25 candidate features, score each for reach, impact, confidence and effort, and tag it Must, Should, Could or Won't. The matrix ranks them, fills the MVP up to your usable capacity and warns when the Musts take more than DSDM's guidance allows.
How this is calculated
Each feature gets a RICE score from its reach, impact, confidence and effort. Features are ordered by MoSCoW category, then RICE, then effort, and fill the MVP in that order up to the capacity left after contingency. Warnings follow DSDM's MoSCoW guidance and Intercom's confidence scale.
Step by step
- RICE for each feature: reach per quarter × impact × confidence ÷ effort in person-weeks.
- Order: Must, then Should, then Could; within each, highest RICE first, and smallest effort first on a tie. Won't features are excluded and listed last.
- Capacity: engineers × weeks gives person-weeks; usable capacity is that × (1 − contingency).
- MVP: features join in order while the running effort stays at or below usable capacity. The first one that doesn't fit, and everything after it, is out.
- Warnings: the Musts alone exceed usable capacity; Must effort is above 60% of total capacity; a Must is held at 50% confidence.
- Up to 25 features can be listed at once.
Default assumptions
Assumptions marked adjustable can be changed in the calculator; the others are fixed parts of the model.
| Assumption | Default | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Engineers on the MVPadjustable | 3 people | None |
| Weeks until the MVP shipsadjustable | 8 weeks | None |
| Capacity held back as contingencyadjustable | 20% | |
| Most Must effort as a share of capacity before a warning | 60% | |
| Confidence at which a Must is flagged to validate first | 50% |
What this doesn’t model
- Dependencies between features aren't modelled; a feature can rank above one it depends on.
- Effort is treated as interchangeable person-weeks; specialist skills, parallel work limits and onboarding aren't modelled.
- RICE scores are only as good as the reach, impact and confidence estimates behind them, and compare features only within one list.
- Capacity assumes every engineer works on the MVP for the whole period.
Sources
- Intercom (Sean McBride), RICE: Simple prioritization for product managers (5 Jan 2018). Accessed . Reach per quarter; impact 3, 2, 1, 0.5 or 0.25; confidence 100%, 80% or 50%; effort in person-months; the score is reach × impact × confidence ÷ effort.
- Agile Business Consortium, MoSCoW prioritisation. Accessed . Must Haves are the minimum usable subset; typically no more than 60% Must Have effort, around 20% Could Have effort as contingency, and Won't Haves excluded when calculating effort for a timeframe.
Last reviewed by the QuantmHill engineering team. Found an error?
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Frequently asked questions
It sorts features by MoSCoW category first (Must, then Should, then Could), then by RICE score, highest first, then by effort, smallest first. Won't features are left out. Features join the MVP in that order until the next one would take the running effort past your usable capacity: engineers × weeks, less the contingency you set.
Reach × impact × confidence ÷ effort, as Intercom describes it. Reach is people or events per quarter, impact is 3, 2, 1, 0.5 or 0.25, confidence is 100%, 80% or 50%. Intercom measures effort in person-months; this tool uses person-weeks so it matches the capacity input, which scales every score equally and doesn't change the order.
The Agile Business Consortium's MoSCoW guidance for DSDM says Must Have effort is typically no more than 60% of the total. The rest leaves room for Shoulds and Coulds that can be dropped if estimates slip, so the Musts still ship.
Because the first feature that doesn't fit ends the MVP. Letting a small Could jump ahead of a Should that doesn't fit would quietly reorder your priorities; move the feature up or adjust capacity if you want it in.
A Must held at 50% confidence, Intercom's lowest level, is a guess the MVP depends on. Test it with users, data or a prototype before committing the build time.
Yes. On this page you can copy the ranked list as a Markdown table or as CSV, ready for a document, a ticket or a spreadsheet. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
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