Aha! Roadmaps | Features prioritization page

“What is your top priority right now?” It sounds simple enough but product managers know this is a loaded question. The answer depends on context — it is common to have multiple “top” priorities. You can look at your features and rank them by product value score. But scores inevitably need to be adjusted as work is further defined, and priorities shift as a result.

Determining the value of work and prioritizing work are two essential strategic tasks product managers must persistently stay ahead of. The Prioritization page provides you with a convenient place to do both. Use filters to find the work you want to prioritize, edit product value scores in-line, and drag and drop records into rank by priority. Then save your view and share it with your team to drive alignment. You can create as many different prioritization views as you choose — so you can have a ranked list of your product team's priorities for every context.

Click any of the following links to skip ahead:

• Permissions

• Create a view

• Edit product value score

• Rank records

• Set priority limits

• Send rank to an integrated tool

• Save and share a view

• Set a default prioritization view

Permissions

Top

Create a view

1. Navigate to Features Prioritization and click Create new report. You will receive a warning that creating a new report will clear the current report from the screen. Click Yes to move forward and clear the page. Click No if you need to save unsaved work before creating a new view.

2. In the top-left corner, use the toggle to select Epics or Features to determine the record type you need to rank.

3. Use filters to narrow down the records you want to rank. You can filter by record status, tags, workspace, release, and more. For example, filter for records with an Under consideration status to build a list of future priorities or filter for a specific release to prioritize only work within that release.

4. Click Move # records to move the full list of filtered records to the right to be prioritized. Alternatively, drag and drop records one by one to the right from the Unranked column.

Once you have formed your list, you will see various details about each record to help you identify the work you are prioritizing. Each record's line will display its title, product value score, type, status, any associated initiatives it belongs to, and its assignee name. Display more data in your prioritization table by adding a column. Click + in the top-right corner of the table to add a column and select the field you want to display.

If you want to remove records you have added to your prioritization view, you can drag and drop them back to the left side panel. If you have completed records in your view, click Remove shipped features to remove them all at once. This option will only appear when you have completed records in your view.

Top

Edit product value scores

The product value score is a great way to estimate the value of work at any stage in the product development lifecycle. But even the slightest insight you gain along the way can impact the potential value of work you are planning or implementing. Even if every record in your prioritization view has a product value score, revisiting scores before moving forward will ensure your prioritization decisions are based on the most current information.

Want to visualize the value you deliver to customers? The product value report shows you a summary of the value delivered at every stage of your product development journey so you can focus on delivering what customers truly care about.

How you will edit product value scores from this page depends on whether you are using a default or custom scorecard.

Default product value scorecard

If you are using the default product value scorecard, you can easily update scores for each record at once by editing product value scores in-line. Click the >> arrows to reveal the product value score metrics next to any feature's product value score. When the scoring section expands, you will see a column for each metric included on the default product value scorecard. Use the sliders or enter values directly in the fields to adjust scores as needed for each record. When you are finished, click the << arrows to close the scoring section and begin ranking records.

Drag and drop or type in a rank to rapidly create your prioritized view

Changing a record's score from the Prioritization page will also update the score on the record itself.

Custom scorecards

If you are using a custom scorecard to score records, in-line scoring is not available to you. But you can still edit product value scores on your records. Click each record individually to open its detail drawer view and adjust scores where appropriate.

Top

Rank records

Once you have up-to-date product value scores and all the details you need to prioritize your records, you can begin ranking them. Drag and drop records into the desired order or edit ranking values manually for each record in the Rank column. To rank a subset of features in your view, use the filters at the top of the view to narrow in on the features you want to rank.

For a quick way to rank records by product value score or their individual metrics, click the column header you want to sort by. Records will then be ranked in order of highest product value score to lowest.

To rank a subset of features in your view, use the filters at the top of the view to narrow in on the features you want to rank.

Top

Set priority limits

Use priority lines to visualize your team's priorities in the context of their capacity. You can add a single line to show what is and is not expected to ship, or multiple lines to segment your features into different priority levels (such as MoSCoW, numerical levels, or Now/Next/Later).

• Hover between two records and click the Plus (+) button to add a priority limit line.

• By default, your line will be named Priority limit. Click the default name to rename it.

• Click and drag the line to move it and adjust your priority limit.

You can also click and drag individual features to move them above or below the line.

• Click the X to delete your line.

• Hover between two other records to add an additional line.

Your priority line(s) will remain in the same spot even if you re-rank your prioritization page.

Top

Send rank to an integrated tool

Share your strategic priorities with development teams in tools like Jira and Azure DevOps, so they can allocate capacity towards the most valuable work. To do this:

• Create a custom numbers field. Note: Name it something to reflect its purpose, like "Product priorities" or "Feature rank."

• Map that custom field to an equivalent field in your external tool. Remember to set the mapping direction to One way or One way (set once).

If you set a bidirectional sync, do not worry. An external tool could adjust your custom field, but your custom field cannot adjust your saved prioritization view.

• Save your prioritization page, then click Apply rank.

  • Choose your custom numbers field.

  • Click Apply.

The next time you sync your Aha! account with your development tool, your features' numbered rank will sync as well. If your priorities change, you can click Update feature rank to update it.

Note: If you have saved multiple prioritization views, some of your features may have different rankings per view. For each rank to appear on the feature you will need to create unique fields for each of the different rankings.

Top

Save and share a view

You will create a saved view to save your prioritization view. When strategy or timelines shift and you need to update your prioritization view, open it from the Features Prioritization page to quickly make adjustments. Share the view's URL with teammates to align and collaborate.

1. Select Save view.

2. Add a Name. We recommend choosing a name specific to the records you prioritized to distinguish it from other prioritization views.

3. Choose which workspace(s) or team(s) you want to Share internally with. Users with permissions to access the workspace(s) you select will be able to access your view — though it will be filtered to the current viewing user's permissions.

4. Set the Save in value by choosing a folder where you would like to save the view. You can create and manage folders on the reports overview page.

5. Set the Editing permissions. You have two options for editing permissions.

   • View only: Users you have shared the view with will be able to see the view but only you and administrators will be able to edit the view.

   • View and edit: Anyone you have shared the view with will be able to view and edit from any workspace that they have contributor or owner permissions in.

6. Click Save view.

Share your view's URL with your teammates to get feedback and drive alignment around your priorities.

Note: Records will not indicate on their record details whether they are included in any saved prioritization views.

Top

Set a default prioritization view

The best saved views drive consistency across your team — or your entire organization. Workspace owners can set default views at the workspace or workspace line levels, so that everyone is using the agreed upon standard. To set defaults more broadly, you can set them at the workspace line level, so that child workspaces can inherit the defaults.

To set a default view, first Save one. Then navigate to Settings ⚙️ Workspace Default views and configure your new default.

A user will see your default view if they do not already have a working copy of a view on that page, or if they click Views Reset to default view.

If you update your default view and Save it again, that update will be reflected for anyone who views the default.

Top