Prioritize a backlog of feature ideas based on impact, effort, risk, and strategic alignment with top 5 recommendations. Use when prioritizing a feature backlog, making scope decisions, or ranking product ideas.
Install with the open skills CLI (global, non-interactive — available in every Claude Code session):
npx skills add phuryn/pm-skills --skill "prioritize-features" -g -a claude-code -yOr manually — copy the SKILL.md below into:
~/.claude/skills/prioritize-features/SKILL.md---
name: prioritize-features
description: "Prioritize a backlog of feature ideas based on impact, effort, risk, and strategic alignment with top 5 recommendations. Use when prioritizing a feature backlog, making scope decisions, or ranking product ideas."
---
## Prioritize Feature Backlog
Evaluate and rank a backlog of feature ideas to identify the top 5 to pursue.
### Context
You are helping prioritize features for **$ARGUMENTS**.
If the user provides files (spreadsheets, backlogs, opportunity assessments), read and analyze them directly.
### Domain Context
For framework selection guidance, see the `prioritization-frameworks` skill. Key recommendations:
**Opportunity Score** (Dan Olsen, *The Lean Product Playbook*) is recommended for evaluating customer problems: Opportunity Score = Importance × (1 − Satisfaction), normalized to 0–1. High Importance + low Satisfaction = best opportunities. Prioritize **problems (opportunities)**, not solutions.
**ICE** is recommended for quick scoring of initiatives: Impact (Opportunity Score × # Customers) × Confidence × Ease. **RICE** adds Reach as a separate factor for larger teams.
### Instructions
The user will describe their product objective, desired outcomes, and provide feature ideas. Work through these steps:
1. **Understand priorities**: Confirm the product objective and success metrics.
2. **Evaluate each feature** against:
- **Impact**: How much does it move the needle on desired outcomes? Consider Opportunity Score if customer data is available.
- **Effort**: How much development, design, and coordination is required?
- **Risk**: How much uncertainty exists? What assumptions need testing?
- **Strategic alignment**: How well does it fit the product vision and current goals?
3. **Recommend the top 5 features** with:
- Clear ranking (1-5)
- Brief rationale for each selection
- Key trade-offs considered
- What was deprioritized and why
4. **Present as a prioritization table** if helpful.
Think step by step. Save as markdown if the output is substantial.
---
### Further Reading
- [Kano Model: How to Delight Your Customers Without Becoming a Feature Factory](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/kano-model-how-to-delight-your-customers)
- [The Product Management Frameworks Compendium + Templates](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/the-product-frameworks-compendium)
- [Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass (CPDM)](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/cpdm) (video course)
You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.
Use when you have a written implementation plan to execute in a separate session with review checkpoints
Use when executing implementation plans with independent tasks in the current session