The weighted scoring model brings mathematical rigor to prioritization by assigning relative importance weights to different evaluation criteria. Each criterion, such as technical feasibility, user impact, or revenue potential, receives a weight percentage based on its strategic importance. The total of all weights must equal 100%, forcing teams to make explicit trade-off decisions about which factors matter most.

Here’s how it works:

• Features receive scores from 1-5 for each criterion, where 1 represents minimal alignment and 5 indicates perfect alignment.
• Multiply each score by its corresponding criterion weight to calculate weighted scores. For example, if user impact has a 30% weight and a feature scores 4 in this category, its weighted score would be 1.2 (4 × 0.30). The sum of all weighted scores becomes the feature's final priority score.
• Common criteria include strategic alignment (25%), user value (30%), implementation effort (20%), technical risk (15%), and revenue impact (10%). So, a feature scoring 4, 3, 5, 2, and 4 respectively would calculate as: (4×0.25) + (3×0.30) + (5×0.20) + (2×0.15) + (4×0.10) = 3.65.

Review and adjust criteria weights quarterly to ensure they align with current business objectives and market conditions.