Prioritization · 7 min read

Prioritize with RICE
not just the loudest vote.

RICE helps teams rank features with a simple score: (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort. Pair it with public votes and you get popularity plus business judgment.

The four inputs

Keep scales consistent across the team so scores are comparable week to week.

  • Reach — users affected per period
  • Impact — typically 0.25–3 scale
  • Confidence — % certainty in your estimates
  • Effort — person-months or story points

Pair RICE with votes

Votes show demand. RICE adds strategy. Together they beat either signal alone — especially when a big customer skews the board.

Review scores in public planning

Publish the winners on your roadmap. Keep the scoring notes internal. Customers need direction; they do not need your spreadsheet.

Ready to put this into practice?

Open RICE calculator

Questions, answered

RICE is better when you need relative ranking across many ideas. MoSCoW is fine for coarse buckets.

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