RICE scoring
Also known as RICE framework, RICE prioritization
RICE scoring is a prioritisation framework that ranks ideas by Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort, calculated as reach times impact times confidence, divided by effort.
What do the four parts of RICE mean?
Reach is how many people the change affects in a set period, such as customers per quarter. Impact is how much it affects each of them, usually on a small scale from minimal to massive. Confidence is how sure you are of the other estimates, as a percentage. Effort is the work involved, often in person-months.
The framework was popularised by the product team at Intercom.
How do you calculate a RICE score?
Multiply reach, impact and confidence, then divide by effort. An idea that reaches 400 customers a quarter, with impact 2, confidence 80% and effort 2 person-months, scores 400 × 2 × 0.8 ÷ 2 = 320.
What is the weakness of RICE?
The score is only as good as its inputs, and reach and impact are often guesses. Basing reach on a real count of customers who raised the problem, and lowering confidence when you can't, keeps RICE from turning opinions into numbers that look precise.
RICE scoring, in brief
- What is RICE scoring?
- RICE scoring is a prioritisation framework that ranks ideas by Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort, calculated as reach times impact times confidence, divided by effort.
- Is RICE better than MoSCoW?
- They do different jobs. RICE ranks a long list of ideas against each other; MoSCoW sorts the scope of a single release into must, should, could and won't. Many teams use RICE for the roadmap and MoSCoW for a release.
Put the theory to work.
Corha turns your calls, tickets and surveys into one evidence-backed picture of your customers, so these ideas become part of how your team works, not just definitions.
Try it with your own website, no account. We read the public page and keep nothing.