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MoSCoW prioritization tool

Sort the ideas for a release or project into Must have, Should have, Could have and Won’t have, and get a clean list to share. Free, no sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Pick one category per idea. A healthy plan has more Shoulds and Coulds than Musts.

  • Must have

  • Should have

  • Could have

  • Won’t have (this time)

Result

Must have (1)

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Should have (1)

  • Export to CSV

Could have (1)

  • Dark mode

Won’t have (this time) (1)

  • Single sign-on (SSO)

Your list is saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent to UserNote.

What is MoSCoW prioritization?

MoSCoW is a way to agree on scope for a release or project with a fixed deadline. It comes from the DSDM agile method, and the name is made from the first letters of its four categories:

Must haveThe release fails or can’t ship without it: legally required, unsafe without it, or the core of what was promised.
Should haveImportant and expected, but there’s a workaround, or it could follow shortly after.
Could haveNice to have. Done if time allows, dropped first if it doesn’t.
Won’t have (this time)Agreed to be out of scope for now. Writing these down stops them creeping back in.

Using it well

  • Be strict about Musts. A common rule of thumb is that Musts should take no more than about 60% of the effort, so there’s room for the unexpected.
  • Ask “what happens if we ship without this?” If the answer isn’t “we can’t ship”, it’s a Should.
  • Agree on the Won’ts out loud. They’re the most useful category, because they settle arguments before they start.
  • MoSCoW sorts ideas but doesn’t rank them within a category. If you have too many Shoulds, score them with RICE or ICE.

Other prioritization methods

Start from what customers actually asked for

The hardest part of MoSCoW is agreeing what really is a Must. Votes from real customers settle a lot of those debates.

UserNote gives you a feedback board where customers post ideas and vote without creating an account, and a public roadmap to show what’s coming.

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