Buy-a-Feature
What is Buy-a-Feature?
Buy-a-Feature is a game-like prioritization framework used in Agile product development, in which stakeholders “buy” features they want implemented, using a limited amount of artificial money. The product manager can then use the insights gained from the process to prioritize features and make informed decisions about what to build next.
It provides a structured approach for product teams to involve key stakeholders and align product development with customer needs. These stakeholders typically include product managers, designers, developers, and customers.
Each participant has a set budget to “purchase” features they believe are most valuable or critical for the product’s success, or in the case of your customers, the ones they most want to see added to your product.
This prioritization game, originally designed by Luke Hohmann, co-founder of Applied Frameworks and author of Innovation Games, encourages active participation and collaborative decision-making. This enables product teams to gather valuable insights on feature prioritization from a diverse group of stakeholders.
Engaging customers or stakeholders collectively in the Buy-a-Feature game also helps ensure that feature prioritization reflects the actual needs and goals of the users. This approach goes beyond a single individual’s perspective and allows for a more comprehensive and well-informed decision-making process.
It also encourages transparency and open communication among stakeholders, ultimately leading to a product roadmap that is aligned with business goals, and which improves customer satisfaction.
How does the Buy-a-Feature prioritization framework work?
The Buy-a-Feature prioritization model is an engaging and collaborative way to prioritize features for a product. The process involves a series of steps that ensure active participation from stakeholders and allow for informed decision-making.
The steps for using the Buy-a-Feature model are:
- Select feature ideas
- Assign a monetary value
- Gather a group of players
- Allocate money
- Ask players to buy features
- Discuss
See below for a detailed run-through of a Buy-a-Feature session. However, the basic process is relatively simple.
First, the product manager (or whichever team or team member is running the session) determines which features are to be discussed.
They then assign each feature a monetary value, taking into account the actual cost of development, from time spent to the resources necessary to ship the feature.
Next, they gather players for the game, either from key internal stakeholders or a group of customers. Each participant is given some fake “money” to make their purchases with, usually around 60% of the total value of the features for sale.
The players then start spending their money, choosing which features are the most important to them, and potentially pooling their cash to buy more expensive features, while the person running the session observes and helps to guide any discussions.
After everyone has spent their money, they discuss their decisions with the product manager, explaining why they picked certain features over others, and why they were perhaps willing to pool their cash to prioritize more expensive features rather than picking a wider range of cheaper ones.
A step-by-step guide to running a Buy-A-Feature session
Here’s how to effectively engage your participants in your buy-a-feature game and gather valuable insights:
1. Select feature ideas
Begin by compiling a list of potential features, ideas, and initiatives based on customer feedback, business goals, and your current product roadmap. Consider factors such as development costs, feasibility, and potential impact.
While creating a comprehensive list of features will ensure a wide range of options for players to pick from, you don’t want to overwhelm your participants. Try to choose the features that you’re struggling most to prioritize.
2. Assign a monetary value
Assign a price to each feature idea based on its estimated development costs (you can also consider risks, reach, the effort involved, and other factors that can influence development, as well as the potential ROI). This step helps prioritize features and allocate limited resources effectively. You might find it helpful to use a feature prioritization framework like ICE scoring to objectively evaluate each feature.
You may find it beneficial to include features that are priced to be more expensive than any one person can afford. This is especially useful if you have high-value and high-implementation-cost features that would preclude work on other areas, were you to focus on them.
This can encourage some interesting discussions amongst your stakeholders as they negotiate group purchases, and so have to decide which of their other preferred features they would set aside in favor of the more expensive option. In turn, this will potentially lead to more enlightening insights in the discussion phase of the process.
3. Gather a group of players
Assemble a representative group of players who are either customers or key stakeholders. Ensure a diverse mix to capture different perspectives, to help you to prioritize features that cater to a variety of user needs and expectations.
While this framework can certainly be useful when used internally, it truly shines as a method for gathering customer feedback, especially if you are getting responses to your surveys that tell you that your users want every possible feature, and they want them all now. It encourages the end users to think in depth about what they actually want soonest and why, and acting on this can drive swifter improvements in customer satisfaction.
4. Allocate money
Provide each player with a set amount of artificial money, such as poker chips, Monopoly money, or jelly beans. This money represents their purchasing power to buy features.
You could consider allocating more money to stakeholders who have a higher influence on product decisions.
5. Ask players to buy features
Prompt the players to spend their allocated money on the features they want to prioritize. They can invest their money in one or multiple features to reflect their preferences.
Encourage players to consider the potential impact and prioritize features they want the most and that they believe will deliver the most value.
6. Discuss
After players have made their buying decisions, gather their explanations for each feature purchase. This step provides valuable insights into their thought processes, priorities, and needs.
Conducting a post-game discussion to delve deeper into their reasoning and gather additional feedback.
Benefits of the Buy-a-Feature game
The Buy-a-Feature framework is a great way to prioritize and make decisions about which features or improvements to focus on in a product or project. Here are some benefits of using this framework:
1. Clear decision-making
The Buy-a-Feature framework helps to limit subjective opinions and biases regarding the relative values of features by assigning a pre-determined monetary value. This allows for more objective decision-making, as stakeholders can allocate their budget to the features they find most valuable.
2. Stakeholder involvement
This framework encourages collaboration and involvement from a wide range of stakeholders. By giving each stakeholder a personal budget to purchase features with, it ensures that everyone’s opinions and needs are considered.
3. Efficient resource allocation
With limited resources, it’s important to allocate them effectively. The Buy-a-Feature framework helps in identifying the most valuable features and ensures that resources are allocated to those that would provide the highest return on investment.
4. Prioritization of customer needs
By involving customers in the decision-making process, this framework ensures that the features being prioritized align with the needs and preferences of the target consumers. This leads to a more customer-centric product development approach.
5. Transparency and accountability
This framework fosters transparency by making the decision-making process visible to all stakeholders. It also holds stakeholders accountable for their choices, as they have to justify and defend their decisions based on their allocated budget.
Overall, the buy-a-feature framework provides a structured and collaborative approach to prioritizing features. It cam lead to more efficient resource allocation, customer-centric decision-making, and ultimately a better product or project outcome.
Downsides of the Buy-a-Feature game
The Buy-a-Feature framework can be a helpful tool for prioritizing features or projects. However, like any framework, it also has its downsides.
Here are a few potential drawbacks to consider:
1. Subjectivity
The Buy-a-Feature framework relies on the opinions and preferences of the participants. This means that the outcome can be subjective and influenced by individual biases. This may lead to prioritizing certain features that may not be the best for the overall project or organization.
2. Lack of data-driven decision making
The framework does not necessarily consider data or evidence to support the prioritization of features. Instead, it relies on the opinions and assumptions of the participants. This may result in decisions that are not based on solid evidence or market demand.
3. Limited scope
The Buy-a-Feature framework focuses on prioritizing features within a given set of options. It may not be suitable for complex projects or situations where there are multiple variables to consider. In such cases, a more comprehensive and data-driven approach may be required.
4. Time-consuming
The framework requires active participation from stakeholders, which can be time-consuming. The process of discussing and prioritizing features can be lengthy and may not be feasible in situations where time is a constraint.
5. Difficult to use remotely
Since the Covid pandemic, remote working has become far more common. This poses a challenge when it comes to the Buy-a-Feature game, as the valuable discussions and interactions among participants may be inhibited by not being in the same room. Without in-person interaction, it can be difficult to fully understand and explore different perspectives and insights that otherwise would contribute to informed decision-making.
In conclusion, while the Buy-a-Feature framework can be a useful prioritization tool, it is essential to consider these downsides and assess whether it is the most appropriate approach for your specific situation and product.
