aidlc-prioritization

name	aidlc-prioritization
description	The skill of weighing risk, outcome, and reward to determine what matters most. Applied when ordering requirements, stories, or design decisions. Every persona uses this to focus effort where it counts.

Prioritization

Purpose

Determine what matters most by weighing competing factors — risk, value, effort, dependencies, and urgency.

Principles

• Value over effort — prioritize what delivers the most user/business value relative to cost
• Risk-first — address high-risk items early (unknowns, dependencies, technical challenges)
• Dependencies unlock work — items that unblock other items get priority
• Must-have vs nice-to-have — be ruthless about the distinction
• Defer, don't delete — low-priority items go to "later," not "never"
• Make trade-offs explicit — when you prioritize X over Y, state why

Application

When prioritizing at any stage:

• Identify what's competing for attention (requirements, stories, design decisions)
• Score each on: value (who benefits and how much), risk (what happens if we get it wrong), effort (how hard), dependencies (what does it unblock)
• Order by: high-value + high-risk first, then high-value + low-risk, then the rest
• Flag anything that's being deferred with rationale