Prioritization Map

Use the worksheet

The X-axis (horizontal line) is “Impact” and the Y-axis (vertical line) is “Effort”.

Give everyone Impact voting dots

Assign one color for Impact voting dots. Each person should get the same number of these dots as the total number of solutions you hope to have decided on at the end of the activity.

Example: I want to narrow down from 10 ideas to 3. Each person should get 3 dots.

Give everyone Effort voting dots　

Assign the other color for Effort voting dots. Give everyone the same number of dots as you did in step #3. Everyone should now have 2 sets of equal amounts of colored dots.

Present the items to be prioritized

Have the person who proposed the idea present it. Share each item to make sure each person understands what it is. Transfer each of your proposed solutions to sticky notes and post them on the board.

Vote for Impact, then Effort

First, have everyone vote for the impact of each solution. Then, have each person vote on the effort for each solution.

Impact: how much value will the solution have for the user when solving their problem?

Effort: How many resources (money, people, technology, time, etc.) would this take to create?

Place each item on the graph

Once everyone has voted, tally up the votes and place the ideas at the appropriate points along the axises.

Tip

The points aren’t fixed. Create points on the axes based on the tallied votes.

Reflect on the Prioritization Map

Take a look at the items on your graph. Decide which ones you want to pursue.