Visualizing our priorities using a 2 × 2 matrix

A cost-value 2 × 2 matrix is another great tool for visualizing the relative priorities of features.

A 2 × 2 matrix captures the value on one axis and the cost on the other. Together they form two quadrants, which can be depicted as follows:

Typically, the costs are a combination of development effort and technical complexity, while impact is the impact that the feature idea could have on Key Business Outcomes and customer value. However, we now have features already prioritized for us, based on the projected business outcomes represented as a number value. Also, we know that the maximum impact that a feature can have is 5000 (500 × 10, where 500 is the maximum amount that can be invested and 10 is the maximum estimated impact rating), and the lowest is zero.

We can now arrange our feature cards based on their relative impact. We don't yet know the costs associated with building each feature. The following is a representation of our feature ideas listed earlier in the 2 × 2 matrix, purely based on their impact scores:

Feature idea 5 is not in the grid since it was estimated to have zero impact on Key Business Outcomes. So, feature 5 is already out of our backlog. Now we need to find the best way to implement these four feature ideas. To do this, we need to define what success means for each feature idea, and then evaluate the costs associated with them.