3.

RICE Method

3.A. Overview

RICE is a prioritization framework developed by Intercom. It takes into

account four factors: reach, impact, confidence, and effort to prioritize which
features to implement.
The RICE Method ranks items by multiplying Reach (the number of users the
item affects) by Impact (the result the item has on users)
and Confidence (how much validation you have for your estimates). This
resulting number is divided by Effort (the amount of work it will take to
implement the item) to obtain an item’s final score.
3.B. Criteria

This RICE method is based on scoring each item on 4 different dimensions:

• Reach: the number of users the item affects within a given time period
• Impact: the value added to users
• Confidence: how confident you are in your estimates of the other
criteria (for example, highly confident if multiple data sources support
your evaluation)
• Effort: the amount of work necessary to implement the item

3.C. Process

Using the RICE method is straightforward. Separate scores are assigned for
each criterion, then an overall score is calculated.

• A reach score is often estimated by looking at the number of users per

time period (e.g., week, year); ideally, this number is pulled from digital
analytics or frequency metrics.
• The impact score should reflect how much the item will increase delight
or alleviate friction; it is hard to precisely calculate, and, thus, it’s usually
assigned a score (for example, through voting, like in the previous
methods) often on a scale from .25 (low) to 3 (high).
• The confidence score is a percentage that represents how much you
and your team trust the reach and impact scores. 100% represents
high confidence, while 25% represents wild guesses.
• The effort score is calculated as “person-months” — the amount of time
it will take all team members to complete the item. For example, an item
is 6 person-months if it would require 3 months of work from a designer
and 1 month from 3 separate developers.
Once you have each of the 4 criterion scores, use the formula to calculate the
final score for each item: multiply the reach, impact, and confidence scores
and divide the result by the effort score. Then compare, discuss, and
reevaluate all the items’ scores with your team.

3.D. Best for Technical-Oriented Teams

The RICE method works well for organizations that are more technical in
nature (for example, when stakeholders are comfortable with equations or
spreadsheets). The RICE method also works well when there are many items
that need to be prioritized. Consider including peers with diverse domains of
expertise in the RICE process and assign them the task of calculating the
score for the criterion that relates to their expertise.