Buy-a-feature prioritization

Buy-a-feature prioritization transforms feature selection into an engaging collaborative exercise where stakeholders make investment decisions with limited resources.

Here’s how it works:

• Each participant receives a fixed budget (typically virtual currency or points) representing a portion of available resources.
• Features are assigned costs based on their implementation complexity, resource requirements, and relative size.
• Stakeholders participate in a structured purchasing session where they can spend their budget on desired features.
• They may collaborate, pooling resources to afford high-cost features they collectively value. For example, if a complex AI recommendation engine costs 100 points, multiple stakeholders might combine their budgets to secure this priority. This natural collaboration reveals genuine organizational priorities and encourages transparent discussion about trade-offs.

The exercise concludes with analysis of purchasing patterns and discussions about investment choices. For example, when the VP of Sales and Customer Success Manager pool resources for the same feature, it signals strong cross-functional alignment. The process also captures valuable insights through participant discussions — stakeholders must articulate why they're willing to spend on certain features, providing concrete justification for prioritization decisions.