Product development: How to prioritize ideas and suggestions for improvement?

It is probably not just Brevio that is overflowing with product ideas and suggestions for improvement. In most cases, you have neither the time nor the resources to do everything. Prioritizing hurts, but to make it easier for you, we'll share some tips that work for us.

1. Get an overview

This may not be a surprising tip from an accountant, but system and order are your best friend.

If you are faced with a mountain of proposals, the first step is to get an overview. It does not matter if the suggestions are collected in a spreadsheet, scrumboard or on paper, the most important thing is to collect all ideas and suggestions in one place.

2. Map the utility value

Is it valuable to the customer?

Start by prioritizing the customer's needs. What ideas will save the customer time? Which ideas make the customer's everyday life easier? And last but not least: What makes the customer feel good? Does it make business sense?

Are you moving in the right strategic direction? All choices must be rooted in a long-term strategy, therefore you must also make sure that all new functionality supports this strategy.

Be hard. Check the validity of the ideas against your business goals. If they do not measure up, they should be discarded.

When a proposal is both valuable to the customer and makes business sense, then you hit the nail on the head.

3. Carry out quality control

Check all ideas against the following criteria:

a) Utility: Is this something your users want? Does the functionality solve a real problem? Are more of your users requesting the functionality? Utility value is a great way to separate the chaff from the wheat — If you are in doubt here, put the idea on hold.

b) Timing: Sometimes a user will tear their hair out over a problem they would like to have solved. If this is a problem you plan to solve in the near future anyway, you have a golden opportunity to surprise positively.

Solve the customer's problem straight away by moving the solution to the top of the priority list.

c) Variation: Sometimes tasks that fall under the same type of category are prioritized, for example improvements in the code or the like. These are changes that are not directly visible to the user, but which are important for the rest of the operation.

If you have made many invisible changes over a period of time, it may be a good idea to prioritize ideas that are very visible to the user, so that you show the users that you have made concrete progress. By ensuring a variety of improvements, progress is made visible to several user groups.

Try these criteria on the suggestion pile and see how the priority list changes.

4. Make planning a habit

Have regular planning meetings with the team. This makes the priorities consistent, and it reduces the risk of being overwhelmed by proposals and ideas.

Involve everyone on the team in the planning meetings, so that together you can set the pace. Clarify the focus areas for the next three months, and focus on the areas that are "right in the middle" that help users and support your long-term strategy.

5. Take account of unexpected events

There will always be events that you have no control over, or opportunities that suddenly open up. If it requires the team to shift focus for a short period of time, be prepared to be able to do so. It may therefore be wise to budget time for unexpected events.

And should there be too many ideas and suggestions, remember that this is only positive. Suggestions from users are a signal that they are engaged and want more.