Checklist for creating a Priority Matrix

What is the priority matrix?

Our life as a UX practitioner is not so simple. We need to juggle between so many tasks. We need to satisfy our users and our stakeholders while fully integrating our design ideas into a new feature or a product. Obviously, we can’t work on multiple things at the same time. We need priorities for these works, and that’s why we need the prioritization matrix.

It’s a simple 2D matrix. You can choose the 2 most important criteria for prioritizing the works and get your teammates to vote on the list of works based on these 2 criteria.

Check list for creating a priority matrix

Checklists can change complex processes into a list of actional items. Below is my checklist that I use when creating a priority matrix. Please note that this is not the only way to work with a priority matrix!

1. Establish the 2 most important criteria for setting a priority.
2. Write each task that you should accomplish on a post-it.
3. Create a 2D chart where 2 axes represent the 2 criteria you picked in step 1.
4. Get your teammates to locate the post-its you created in step 2 on the 2D chart.
5. Have discussions with your teammates about the items with the same rank on the 2D chart or about the items located at the ends of the scale, and define the priorities of the tasks using the 2D chart.
6. (Now you have a list of tasks ordered by its priority) Discuss with shareholders to decide the timelines and finalize the priorities of the tasks.