How to Use a Prioritization Matrix for SaaS: Faster, Smarter Roadmapping

Even the most well-funded startups have to make tradeoffs. Choosing between new features, fixes, and app improvements can be challenging— especially without a team consensus.

At some point, SaaS founders face a key question: Should we dedicate resources to one complex feature or several smaller improvements? This is where a prioritization matrix becomes indispensable.

Simple yet effective, a prioritization matrix can help you identify the best choices, find common ground, and speed up decision-making. Discover what makes a prioritization matrix powerful and how to adapt it to your SaaS development. 

What Is a Prioritization Matrix and Why Do SaaS Teams Need It?

A prioritization matrix is a decision-making tool that visualizes options based on two key factors—such as effort and impact. By plotting tasks on a grid, teams can see which initiatives are worth pursuing and which are not. 

For example, the impact vs. effort framework helps SaaS founders see how possible product improvements compare in terms of their overall impact and the effort required to achieve them. Tasks fall into four quadrants:

• Quick Wins: High impact, low effort
• Big Projects: High impact, high effort
• Fill-In Tasks: Low impact, low effort
• Money Pits: Low impact, high effort

A prioritization matrix is flexible enough to support nearly any company’s decision-making process, but it’s especially relevant for SaaS firms. It helps teams avoid pet projects that don’t pay off and rank development tickets in terms of their priority. In other words, a prioritization matrix helps create a SaaS roadmap. By organizing options visually, the tool de-personalizes the development process and gives teams a structure to rally around. 

Top Prioritization Frameworks for SaaS Success

Not all prioritization matrices are created equal. Here are three frameworks commonly used by SaaS teams: 

1. Impact vs. Effort Matrix

This deceptively simple tool is popular for a reason. The impact vs. effort matrix divides tasks into four categories: 

• Quick Wins: A great place to focus your attention, these tasks don’t require much work, but they make a big difference for your project. 

• Big Projects: More research is necessary to determine whether these tasks warrant action. They’ll require lots of effort, but it might be worth it since they also yield significant impact. 

• Fill-In Tasks: While these tasks won’t move the needle very much, they’re pretty simple, making them great options for when your team has downtime. 

• Money Pit: These thankless tasks use up valuable time and resources without a big payout. 
  
  

  IMPACT	QUICK WINS  Low Effort, High Impact	BIG PROJECTS High Effort, High Impact
  	FILL-IN TASKS  Low Effort, Low Impact	MONEY PIT High Effort, Low Impact
  	EFFORT

   

  How to Use a Prioritization Matrix:

1. Assign numeric values to effort (e.g., 1–5) and impact (e.g., 1–10).
2. List all tasks and score them based on these criteria.
3. Plot tasks on the grid to determine priority.

2. RICE Scoring 

A prioritization matrix isn’t the only tool for determining how to tackle your development wishlist. The RICE framework offers a weighted scoring approach. Each task receives a score, making it easy to decide which tasks to attack first and which to save for later (or delete altogether).

RICE is an acronym that stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort.

• Reach: Determine the number of users this development task will affect. 
• Impact: Assign a value representing the significance of the expected results of the change, ranging from 0.25 (minimal impact) to 3 (massive impact).  
• Confidence: Give your reach and impact estimates a confidence value, ranging from 50% (not very confident) to 100% (very confident).  
• Effort: Estimate the time and resources necessary to complete the changes as a unit “person-months.”

Once you’ve assigned a value for each of the four factors, plug them into the equation below to determine the task’s overall RICE score. 

RICE Score = (Reach x Impact x Confidence) / Effort

This weighted method allows teams to gain a more objective point of comparison and identify the initiatives that maximize impact and minimize effort. 

3. MoSCoW Method 

Lean development requires ruthless discipline, especially when it comes to adding features. The MoSCoW method offers a helpful framework to align your SaaS roadmap with in-demand and impactful features. By sorting potential additions into four buckets, MoSCoW quickly highlights the items with the highest priority. 

• Must-have: Essential features your app requires to function smoothly. (Pursue these!) 

• Should-have: Beneficial features that significantly improve the app’s function or experience. (Consider these!) 

• Could-have: Optional features that might be nice to add but aren’t time-sensitive. (Postpone these!) 

• Won’t-have: Extraneous features that have a negative impact on function or experience. (Avoid these!) 

The MoSCoW method is a great feature prioritization tool, particularly for something like an MVP, where honing in on core features is essential. By sorting your options this way, you can quickly see where to focus your efforts, both in the short and potentially long term. 

How to Build a Prioritization Matrix for Your SaaS Product

While impact vs. effort is a popular prioritization matrix framework, it’s not the only option. In fact, you can build a prioritization matrix based on any two criteria and use a matrix with more than four categories. For example, urgency and importance are other factors that often prove helpful for SaaS development. 

To create a custom prioritization matrix, follow these key steps. 

• Establish criteria. First, determine which factors to use for measuring tasks. 

• Determine a range. Next, assign a scale for each factor. For example: Not Important - 0 to 3, Somewhat Important - 4 to 6, More Important - 5 to 9, Most Important - 10 to 12. Create a weighted scale if you value one criterion more than the other. 

• List tasks. Then, list all your possible tasks. At this point, don’t worry about categorizing tasks; simply record them. 

• Assign values. Next, assign each task a value for both criteria. For example, “Add a user portal – Importance: 3, Effort: 7.” 

• Create a grid. After you’ve assigned a value to each task, create a grid that accommodates the full range of your options. Labeling the grid according to the scale you determined in Step 2 is helpful. 

• Place tasks. Now, place each option on the grid according to its values for each factor. 

• Review your grid. As a team, now you’ll take a step back and analyze your results. Do you have an even spread of options throughout the grid? Are there sufficient options in favorable sections of the grid? Often, color-coding the grid can help make it more visually digestible. For example, use green to indicate favorable areas of the grid, yellow for areas that are neither positive nor negative, and red for areas that indicate options that are not worth pursuing.

• Make a game plan. Based on your analysis in Step 7, convene with your team to form a plan. Which high-priority tasks will you tackle first? What’s required for these efforts? It’s important to include key stakeholders in this conversation to serve as a check on what’s possible. 

A pen and paper are all that’s required to build a custom prioritization matrix; however, many digital tools make the process much more collaborative, visually appealing, and easily editable. Some common prioritization matrix tools include spreadsheets and project management software like Trello or Jira.

Real-World Examples and Applications

While a prioritization matrix is a popular startup tool, it’s by no means reserved for new products. SaaS companies at every stage of development can benefit from the quick clarity these frameworks offer. Here are just a few ways a prioritization matrix can be applied for SaaS road mapping: 

• Feature Prioritization: Development is never truly “over” for a SaaS company. Well beyond the MVP, a software company must constantly evaluate and prioritize potential feature additions. A prioritization matrix helps objectively measure which features to add first and which to save for later. 

• Bug Fixes: Software requires updating, beyond feature additions, to maintain optimal performance. Bug fixes are part of routine software maintenance, but not every bug is of equal urgency or importance. Using a prioritization matrix helps teams determine which fixes to pursue first, which can support user satisfaction and retention. 

• Roadmap Planning: It’s rare that a company stumbles into success. A strategic vision for the future helps SaaS companies edge out the competition and develop a strong market foothold. Using a prioritization matrix enables firms to identify not only the lowest-hanging fruit, so to speak, but also ramp up their development teams to take on high-impact efforts that require significant resources. In other words, companies can establish near-term and short-term goals and paths to achieve both with a prioritization matrix.  

How a SaaS Company Might Leverage a Prioritization Matrix 

Determining which development tasks to pursue isn’t just a hypothetical issue. For SaaS companies, prioritization matrices intersect with some of the most important and substantial decisions the firm can make. Let’s take a look at an example. 

Based on user feedback, SupperFoodz, a recipe-planning app, has identified several possible changes. 

• Update the app font to make the interface more readable. 
• Add social sharing capabilities. 
• Create an in-app messaging platform so users can chat about recipe ideas.
• Incorporate an AI-assisted recipe builder that creates weekly meal plans based on user preferences.
• Tap into device location services to filter recipes based on locally grown, seasonal ingredients.

The app’s developers and leadership know that all of these possible features are grounded in real user needs and wants, but they can’t pursue them all. Using an impact vs. effort prioritization matrix, the team reorganizes its list, identifying easy yet powerful changes and eliminating some options requiring too much effort for too little impact. 

Benefits of Using a Prioritization Matrix

Using a prioritization matrix has many compelling advantages for SaaS companies. Here are the top reasons to adopt this tool for decision-making. 

• Saves time and resources. Teams that leverage a prioritization matrix manage limited capacity efficiently. For startups and seasoned businesses alike, prudent management of time and resources smooths the path to success. 

• Reduces team conflicts by providing an objective framework. Without an impersonal framework for decision-making, teams risk prioritizing features based on the loudest voice in the room. A prioritization matrix can de-escalate debate about what to pursue first and bring teams to a consensus sooner. 

• Aligns features with business goals and user needs. Prioritization matrices offer a flexible framework that SaaS companies can adapt to their unique goals and users. Firms can get as broad or granular as needed with a wide range of specificity. 

Recognize that not every company will benefit from an identical prioritization matrix. Over time, SaaS companies may land on a particular framework, scoring method, or set of criteria that are most congruent with their ambitions. 

Take Control of Your SaaS Roadmap

Winging it, leading by popular opinion, and flying blind are not management strategies. Use a prioritization matrix to build a methodical SaaS roadmap rooted in solid reasoning. With a custom framework, steward limited resources wisely, support collective decision-making, and build user-centric products. 

Need help implementing your strategic framework? Designli’s dedicated development teams can gut-check your conclusions and help you follow through on your product punch list. Schedule a free consultation to learn more about our strategic SaaS development approach. 

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