What is RICE prioritization

RICE is a framework for ranking ideas and initiatives by four criteria: Reach (reach), Impact (impact), Confidence (confidence) and Effort (effort). The final score shows what brings the most value for the cost in time and resources.

Criteria

• Reach (reach): how many people/sessions/accounts will be affected for a given period.
• Impact (impact): the effect on the goal for one user (for example, change in conversion).
• Confidence (confidence): how confident we are in our estimates.
• Effort (effort): how many person-months (or points) are needed for implementation.

Formula

RICE Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort

Scales and indicators

• Reach: real units for period (for example, 5 000 users/month).
• Impact: relative scale (for example, 3 = huge, 2 = large, 1 = medium, 0.5 = small, 0.25 = minimal).
• Confidence: percentage in decimal form (for example, 0.8 = 80%).
• Effort: person-months for the whole team (for example, 2 = two people per month).

Mini example

• Idea A: Reach 4 000/m, Impact 1.5, Confidence 0.7, Effort 2 → RICE = (4 000 × 1.5 × 0.7) ÷ 2 = 2 100
• Idea B: Reach 1 200/m, Impact 3, Confidence 0.9, Effort 1 → RICE = (1 200 × 3 × 0.9) ÷ 1 = 3 240
• Idea B has a higher priority by RICE.

Steps to apply

• Define goal, horizon and units for Reach.
• Describe the rubric for Impact, to be comparable between teams.
• Assign Confidence according to evidence: data, tests, benchmarks.
• Evaluate Effort jointly with engineers/executors.
• Calculate RICE, sort and review the top items with regard to dependencies and risk.

Good practices

• Normalize the period (for example, month) and maintain equal units.
• Collect ratings from several roles and use the median.
• Document the assumptions for Reach and Impact for future revision.
• Revise RICE after new experiments or change of context.

Common mistakes

• Over-praising Reach without a real addressable audience.
• Impact without support in data or without a clear metric.
• Confidence set high by inertia, without evidence.
• Effort underestimated, because QA, legal and implementation are not taken into account.

When to use RICE

• When you are in product, marketing or growth sprints with many options.
• When you need to protect the prioritization before interested parties with transparent numbers.
• As a supplement to ICE, when Reach is important for comparison between ideas.

Advice

Use RICE as a quantitative start. For top initiatives, add a qualitative review: strategic alignment, risk, dependencies and impact on team capacity.