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Product Management vocabulary · Prioritization

MoSCoW method

Meaning in product management, with examples

nounCommon term

In product management, MoSCoW method means: A prioritization method that sorts requirements into four groups: Must have, Should have, Could have and Won't have (this time).

In Turkish: MoSCoW yöntemi, MoSCoW önceliklendirmesi

How it is used

The two o's are added only to make the word readable; it has nothing to do with the city. Teams use it to agree on the scope of a release or an MVP. The Won't group is as useful as the Must group, because it makes exclusions explicit.

Example sentences

  1. We used the MoSCoW method to cut the MVP down to six must-haves.

  2. Thanks to the MoSCoW method, everyone could see that dark mode was only a could-have.

Common collocations

  • MoSCoW prioritization
  • must-have features
  • nice-to-have
  • won't-have list
  • prioritizeTo decide which work is most important and should be done first, and therefore which work will wait or will not be done at all.
  • RICEA prioritization method that gives each idea a score based on Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort, so that very different ideas can be compared.
  • MVPShort for minimum viable product: the simplest version of a product that can be released to real users to learn whether the idea is worth building further.
  • scope creepThe slow, uncontrolled growth of a feature or project as extra requirements are added after work has started, usually without changing the deadline.
  • requirementSomething a product or feature must do, or a condition it must meet, written down so that the team agrees on what to build.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Prioritization

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