Determine your next project with the Priority Ratings app in airfocus

Watch: Priority Ratings

With airfocus, you prioritize opportunities based on a defined (and customizable) set of value and cost criteria. Our algorithms then score your items based on your input and the relative weighting of each criterion and visually map them out on a prioritization chart so you can make informed and more objective decisions.

Install the app

In order to use the Priority Ratings app, you need to install it for the workspace you're currently working in. You can do that with only two clicks. 

If you are using one of our workspace templates, it's possible that the Priority Ratings app is already installed. You can check whether it is installed or not in the Extensions section in the top right of your workspace. 

This is what your workspace will look like when you start with an empty workspace and no Priority Ratings app installed. In this case, click on Extensions and select the Priority Ratings app to start prioritizing your projects, features, or initiatives.

Add your items

Add your items to the table view. You can add them manually or use our integrations to sync airfocus with the tools you love. To structure your projects and features you could use the template fields or any custom field you want to use to group them.

Rate your items

Rate your items for each of your strategic criteria. Once you've completed a row, airfocus calculates the focus score (the purple value) for the item at hand. The focus score serves as a guiding metric throughout all airfocus views to guide you to a more focused roadmap and better alignment.

Adjusting your prioritization system

You can also adjust your prioritization system. However, if you are using a template this step may be necessary.

To add, edit, or delete any of the value or cost columns (criteria), follow these steps:

1. Click Extensions.
2. Select Priority Ratings.
3. Under "Customize factors", you'll be able to define your strategic factors and criteria, and their corresponding weightings. 

The following fields can be used a criteria in the Priority ratings app: 

• Single select
• Multi-select
• T-shirt sizing
• Yes or no
• 0 to 5
• 0 to 10
• Money
• Percentage
• Story point estimation
• Numbers

For Single select, Multi-select, and Yes or no fields, you can apply custom values for each of the options.

Define the rating scale

You can define the rating scale (we call them "value types") for each field that is used as a prioritization criterion. You may want to rate some criteria in US dollars, some in percentages, and some in t-shirt sizes. 

To edit the value types in the fields settings of your workspace, follow these steps: 

1. Click Extensions.
2. Select Priority Ratings.
3. Click the three-dot icon to the right to each criterion under the factor.
4. Select Field settings.
5. Adjust the settings for each field as needed.
6. Click Update.

View your priorities

Next, move to the prioritization matrix on the chart view and have an objective discussion with the team about what to include on the product roadmap.

What are factors and criteria?

With airfocus you prioritize items based on strategy criteria for defined factors. In other words, a factor can have one or many strategy criteria. The prioritization framework always has an X-factor and a Y-factor, whereas the R-factor is optional (it only has informational value, representing the bubble size on the chart view).

Each factor has a scoring direction, which defines whether it is a positive or negative factor. The scoring direction of a factor also accounts for the underlying criteria of that factor. You can change the scoring direction by clicking the factor name. 

Each criterion has a value type that defines the scale of the criteria (or in other words, how you want to measure the criteria). 

Let's look at the following example:

• The Y-factor is used for "Value" with higher values in the scoring table being better (see the up arrow). The factor here has three criteria: "Reach" (value type: percentages), "Impact" (value type: 0-10 numbers), and "Insights" (comes from insights & feedback management board).
• The X-factor is used for "Effort" with lower values in the scoring table being better. The factor here has just one criterion: "Team effort" (value type: general numbers).
• The R-factor is used for "Revenue" with higher values in the scoring table being better. The factor here also has just one criterion: "Revenue" (value type: t-shirt sizing).

All of these settings can be customized in the Priority ratings app. 

Rename factors and define the weighting between the factors. 

Rename, delete or add new criteria and define the weighting between the criteria of that factor.

Understanding the focus score

What is the focus score formula?

The airfocus Focus score is a computed priority value, considering the pros and cons of your prioritization framework. 

The Focus score is the weighted sum over all X / Y criteria (the underlying criteria of your X / Y factors). Depending on the scoring direction (whether a factor is positive or negative), the values before the weighting are either normalized to 0 to 1 or vice versa to 1 to 0.

Normalized values

• For 0 - 10 criteria
  • 0 - 0.00
  • 5 - 0.50
  • 10 - 1.00
• For T-shirt sizing criteria
  • S - 0.00
  • M - 0.33
  • L - 0.66
  • XL - 1.00
• For Money criteria
  • $0 - 0.00
  • $Max - 1.00

Score calculation (example)

• Value (Y – higher values are better) (60%)
• Y1 (70%)
• Y2 (30%)
• Costs (X - lower values are better) (40%)
• X1 (80%)
• X2 (20%)
• Score = (normCritY1 * 0.7 + normCritY2 * 0.3) * 0.6 + (1 - (normCritX1 * 0.8 + normCritX2 * 0.2) * 0.4

By default, airfocus uses the formula (Y + (1 - X)) / 2 * 100 to calculate its scores. In this way, it makes sure it takes the average value of X and Y values.

Using a custom formula

To adapt the formula to your needs, follow the steps below:

1. Click Extensions.
2. Click the Priority Ratings.
3. Click Switch to custom formula.

Here, you can modify all formulas (X value, Y value, and Scoring). Remember these X and Y formulas are calculated to use within the Priority chart graphing. 

In your Scoring formula, you can add variables from X and Y to make your own.

How do custom formulas work?

By default, your prioritization settings are based on an equal or weighted scoring approach. However, advanced users may want to customize the prioritization formulas for your factors as well as your Focus score (the number in the blue bubble).

The factor formulas define the factors scores and how your items get plotted on the 2x2 priority chart. Per factor formula (e.g. "Y") you can only use the corresponding criteria variables (e.g. "Y1" or "Y2"). To change the equations, you can use numbers, mathematical operators, and variables (e.g. Y, Y1, Y1_ABS, ...). Supported mathematical operations are: +, -, *, /, ^, sqrt, log, abs, min, max.

You can always edit your prioritization framework by opening the Priority Ratings app. This opens up the custom weighting options of the app. 

You can also work on the formula itself, by editing and setting up a custom formula. For that select Switch to custom formula.

The custom formula settings will show you options to edit the formula, both for each factor that you have as well as the priority score itself. In the first three sections, you'll find the formula for each factor that you have. How you edit these formulas will influence how your items get plotted on the 2x2 priority chart.

The last section that you can find at the bottom of the settings is the formula for the prioritization score.

Intercom's famous RICE prioritization framework is a great custom formula example. Let's look at how you can utilize the custom formulas to calculate a normal as well as a normalized RICE version. RICE: Using this Focus score formula Y1_abs * Y2_abs * (Y3_abs / 100) / X1_abs you will get values that go beyond 100.

Of course, you can also manage your factors (X, Y, R) as well as their underlying criteria the same way you do that in the other scoring modes. Add new criteria (e.g. Y1, Y2, ...) or change the details of existing factors and criteria by clicking their names.

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