One strategy in product management is to weight every feature that Engineering delivers. This weighting is based on the value of the feature, not how hard it is to deliver.
Product must assign the values.
The scale is arbitrary, as long as the relative values are consistent. For example, Jack Danger recommends1:
| Points | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table-Stakes | Features users assume exist already |
| 5 | Accelerants | features that allow the user to get more value from the product |
| 30 | Competitive Advantage | Any feature that allows a company to do something other companies do not |
One heuristic for whether a feature provides product value is whether this feature would appear on a slide in an all-hands meeting1.
- Assigning high value to something because its costly to build (not placing a feature as being a competitive advantage just because it takes a long time to build)
- assigning low value to features competitors have (being judgemental about the difference between a table-stakes feature and an accelerant)
- assigning no value to features because they are “must haves”
1. Danger, J. Executive Engineering: Practical Engineering Theory for Software Leaders. (The Technical Executive, 2024).