A Fresh, Practical Method of Product Backlog Prioritization cover image
Product Management

A Fresh, Practical Method of Product Backlog Prioritization

Try Needs, Wants and Wishes instead of MoSCoW when prioritizing.

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Mike Cohn
Oct 12, 2021 • 3 min read
5.00 (1)
Backlog Management
Product Development
Product Ownership
Prioritization
Product Roadmap
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Summary

There are several ways to prioritize a product backlog but Mike Cohen clearly disagrees with the MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Will not have) prioritization technique in this article citing that the method fails to consider items placed in the could-have category and is used to sort out product requirements for a non-agile project. Instead, through an approach that he borrows from his financial planner, he suggests projects to try needs, wants, and wishes. The agile coach notes that the new method has worked well with 3 companies he tried and he finds it a lot easier to explain wants vs. wishes than explaining could-haves.

Takeaways

  • The MSCW acronym stands for: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Will Not have.
  • The MSCW backlog prioritization technique is used to sort out product requirements for a non-agile project.
  • The MSCW prioritization method argues that the Must-have items are the first priority when coming up with the backlog requirements. Whereas the should-have items are included but the product can be launched without some of them, and the could-have items are those that customers desire but the product team deems them of low value.

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