We wrote previously about how prioritizing features to get V1 out the door is key to the start of a lasting, successful product. 

But how do you and your team prioritize? When working on a product for months, even years, it’s natural for ideas and features to accumulate over time. 

Sorting and prioritizing a backlog can feel like you’re at the bottom of Mount Everest. The list can look so long. Your team might not be in agreement. Some might be hanging on to long-held assumptions that are no longer useful. It’s overwhelming.

So what to do? 

1. Document all ideas and possible solutions in one place. Encourage others to add their own items so the whole team knows their ideas will receive attention. 

2. Define the criteria for prioritization. Which user need does this feature tie to? How important is that user need for the business? What is the technical effort to implement this feature? 

3. Assign a level of prioritization to ideas based on your criteria. It’s important for everyone to understand the criteria so it’s clear why an idea was prioritized one way or another. Be thoughtful and ruthless here. A backlog doesn’t have to be a wasteland if your team is able to effectively work through the bigger priorities.

4. Get to work. With higher priorities defined, everything on the backlog should stay there until other items are accomplished first. You may need to be flexible based on new user or business information.  

5. Update and maintain ideas backlog regularly. This may feel administrative, but think about this as a productive time to brainstorm and align on ideas to better improve the product. 

Climbing Mount Everest in one leap is impossible, just like building a product in one release. With prioritization, you’re able to focus on the step in front of you rather than getting caught up in cliffs above.