The basic idea here is to narrow down a list of features to a proposed feature set for a release.

Steps:

1. Document all features considered for the next release in the matrix.

2. Work with PPD to determinr the Product Priority of each feature.

3. Engineers respond with difficulty ratings.

4. Final rankings are determined (formula = (Product Priority * 10) + Engineering Difficulty))

5. Team makes decisions based on final rankings for the proposed feature set.

6. Take trip to Maui to celebrate.

Notes

Feature Description - keep in mind that feature is used to describe an unit of work that would need to be accomplished in the upcoming release. For example, we could describe a feature as a package of Bugzilla bugs that we would like to address for the release and treat that as a "feature" for these purposes.

Product Priority - The importance of the feature relative to other features being considered. The lower the number, the higher the priority. 1 usually means "required for release", 2 usually means "nice to have for release, but release could ship without it", and 3 usually means "optional feature. if there is time, do it.. don't hold the release"

Engineering Difficulty - A rough SWAG at the amount of time a feature would take to design, implement, test, and document. 1 usually means "Easy. 1-2 days", 2 usually means "Medium. 3-5 days" and 3 usually means "Hard. 1-2 weeks, possibly more". Depending on the scope of the project, the timeframes for Engineering Difficulty can be adjusted up or down.