prioritization-advisor
This Claude Code skill guides product managers to select the most appropriate prioritization framework by assessing product stage, team maturity, data availability, and stakeholder dynamics. Use it when establishing a prioritization process for the first time, switching frameworks that aren't working, or aligning teams on decision-making methodology to avoid framework inconsistency and misapplication.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills /tmp/prioritization-advisor && cp -r /tmp/prioritization-advisor/skills/prioritization-advisor ~/.claude/skills/prioritization-advisorSKILL.md
## Purpose Guide product managers in choosing the right prioritization framework by asking adaptive questions about product stage, team context, decision-making needs, and stakeholder dynamics. Use this to avoid "framework whiplash" (switching frameworks constantly) or applying the wrong framework (e.g., using RICE for strategic bets or ICE for data-driven decisions). Outputs a recommended framework with implementation guidance tailored to your context. This is not a scoring calculator—it's a decision guide that matches prioritization frameworks to your specific situation. ## Input **Works best with:** What you're trying to prioritize and why now (sprint planning, roadmap, stakeholder fight). **Also useful:** Product stage, team size, data availability, and frameworks you've tried that failed. Anything supplied with the invocation itself — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line — counts as answers already given. Use it and skip whatever it covers; don't re-ask. **Arriving empty-handed? That works too.** The advisor opens by asking about your product stage and the decision you need the framework to make. **Example invocation:** `Help me pick a framework: seed-stage B2B startup, 40-item backlog, zero usage data, loud enterprise prospect.` ## Key Concepts ### The Prioritization Framework Landscape Common frameworks and when to use them: **Scoring frameworks:** - **RICE** (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) — Data-driven, requires metrics - **ICE** (Impact, Confidence, Ease) — Lightweight, gut-check scoring - **Value vs. Effort** (2x2 matrix) — Quick wins vs. strategic bets - **Weighted Scoring** — Custom criteria with stakeholder input **Strategic frameworks:** - **Kano Model** — Classify features by customer delight (basic, performance, delight) - **Opportunity Scoring** — Rate importance vs. satisfaction gap - **Buy-a-Feature** — Customer budget allocation exercise - **Moscow** (Must, Should, Could, Won't) — Forcing function for hard choices **Contextual frameworks:** - **Cost of Delay** — Urgency-based (time-sensitive features) - **Impact Mapping** — Goal-driven (tie features to outcomes) - **Story Mapping** — User journey-based (narrative flow) ### Why This Works - **Context-aware:** Matches framework to product stage, team maturity, data availability - **Anti-dogmatic:** No single "best" framework—it depends on your situation - **Actionable:** Provides implementation steps, not just framework names ### Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT) - **Not a universal ranking:** Frameworks aren't "better" or "worse"—they fit different contexts - **Not a replacement for strategy:** Frameworks execute strategy; they don't create it - **Not set-it-and-forget-it:** Reassess frameworks as your product matures ### When to Use This - Choosing a prioritization framework for the first time - Switching frameworks (current one isn't working) - Aligning stakeholders on prioritization process - Onboarding new PMs to team practices ### When NOT to Use This - When you already have a working framework (don't fix what isn't broken) - For one-off decisions (frameworks are for recurring prioritization) - As a substitute for strategic vision (frameworks can't tell you what to build) --- ### Facilitation Source of Truth Use [`workshop-facilitation`](../workshop-facilitation/SKILL.md) as the default interaction protocol for this skill. It defines: - session heads-up + entry mode (Guided, Context dump, Best guess) - one-question turns with plain-language prompts - progress labels (for example, Context Qx/8 and Scoring Qx/5) - interruption handling and pause/resume behavior - numbered recommendations at decision points - quick-select numbered response options for regular questions (include `Other (specify)` when useful) This file defines the domain-specific assessment content. If there is a conflict, follow this file's domain logic. ## Application This interactive skill asks **up to 4 adaptive questions**, offering **3-4 enumerated options** at each step. --- ### Question 1: Product Stage **Agent asks:** "What stage is your product in?" **Offer 4 enumerated options:** 1. **Pre-product/market fit** — "Searching for PMF; experimenting rapidly; unclear what customers want" (High uncertainty, need speed) 2. **Early PMF, scaling** — "Found initial PMF; growing fast; adding features to retain/expand" (Moderate uncertainty, balancing speed + quality) 3. **Mature product, optimization** — "Established market; incremental improvements; competing on quality/features" (Low uncertainty, data-driven decisions) 4. **Multiple products/platform** — "Portfolio of products; cross-product dependencies; complex stakeholder needs" (Coordination complexity) **Or describe your product stage (new idea, growth mode, established, etc.).** **User response:** [Selection or custom] --- ### Question 2: Team Context **Agent asks:** "What's your team and stakeholder environment like?" **Offer 4 enumerated options:** 1. **Small team, limited resources** — "3-5 engineers, 1 PM, need to focus ruthlessly" (Need simple, fast framework) 2. **Cross-functional team, aligned** — "Product, design, engineering aligned; clear goals; good collaboration" (Can use data-driven frameworks) 3. **Multiple stakeholders, misaligned** — "Execs, sales, customers all have opinions; need transparent process" (Need consensus-building framework) 4. **Large org, complex dependencies** — "Multiple teams, shared roadmap, cross-team dependencies" (Need coordination framework) **Or describe your team/stakeholder context.** **User response:** [Selection or custom] --- ### Question 3: Decision-Making Needs **Agent asks:** "What's the primary challenge you're trying to solve with prioritization?" **Offer 4 enumerated options:** 1. **Too many ideas, unclear which to pursue** — "Backlog is 100+ items; need to narrow to top 10" (Need filtering framework) 2. **Stakeholders disagree on priorities** — "Sales
Evaluate acquisition channels using unit economics, customer quality, and scalability. Use when deciding whether to scale, test, or kill a growth channel.
Design multi-agent AI workflows with clear boundaries, handoffs, and monitoring. Use when a complex PM task should run as parallel specialized agents instead of one linear process.
Assess whether your product work is AI-first or AI-shaped. Use when evaluating AI maturity and choosing the next team capability to build.
Understand the PM-to-Director transition through altitude and horizon thinking. Use when diagnosing scope, time-horizon, or leadership-level gaps.
Map evidence-backed growth options across the Ansoff Matrix with risk-rated sequencing. Use when the question is where the next tranche of growth comes from, and at what risk.
The protocol behind every investigation skill. Use when AI research must proceed without you: search-plan gate, Fact/Inference/Assumption labels, confidence stacking, diffable outputs.
Research and draft a competitive battle card from public evidence — every claim labeled and sourced. Use when a rep needs a field-action card, not a research report.
Diagnose SaaS business health across growth, retention, efficiency, and capital. Use when preparing a business review or prioritizing urgent fixes.