MoSCoW Method - Prioritize Product Requirements
- Shalini Dinesh
- Oct 3, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 4, 2020
MoSCoW method was developed by Dai Clegg, and this technique was first used in agile project delivery frameworks. MoSCow was primarily used along with timeboxing, where the deadlines were fixed and cannot be extended. The major importance of using this method is that it focuses on the most crucial/important requirements to satisfy the vision of creating the product.
All the requirements are important but setting priorities results in fetching early business benefits. Too late in launching the products in order to provide all the features may result in being late to the market, ultimately failing amidst the rivals who had already launched it early or may not be one of the kinds.
Figure: MoSCoW Method
MoSCoW means:
Mo – Must have
S – should have
Co – Could have
W – Won’t have this time
Developers will initially focus on delivering all the must-have’s, and then the should and could have’s, but when there is a threat to the timeline then, the few items from the should and could have’s be removed.
Must Have: The requirements that are categorized under the must-have are crucial for the success of the product and are considered as mandatory. Even if any of the requirement fails or is not delivered, then the project is considered to be a failure.
Should Have: The requirements of should have are important but not mandatory for the delivery during the current delivery timebox. These are some of the special features that are promised to the customer/end-user and can be considered as important as the must-have but are not necessary for the delivery of the current timeboxed delivery items. Therefore, they can be focused on during the next delivery cycle.
Could Have: These requirements are often considered as desirable and features that are nice to have but failure to provide does not necessarily make the customer/end-user unhappy. Also, failure to provide does not affect the success of the product. These requirements can be included if time, cost, and resources permit.
Won’t Have: These requirements are labeled by the stakeholders as some of the least beneficial and lowest payback items with low/no business value and are not needed at that time. These requirements are not included in the next timebox and are often dropped or maybe get included in future cycles.
References:
Wikipedia contributors. (2020b, September 30). MoSCoW method. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoSCoW_method#cite_note-1
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