Moscow method is a prioritization technique used in Business Analysis,Project management and software development to reach common understanding with the stakholders on the importance they place on the delivery of each requirement.It is called Moscow prioritiztion technique or analysis. Moscow model of prioritization is based on the agile method of project management. It establish the product cost,quality and other early requirements.
The acronym of Moscow represents four catogories of initiative:
Mo- Must have – The most vital things which you can’t live without. ( Describes the requirement that must be satisfied in the final solution for the solution to be consider as success)
S- Should have – Things you consider as a important, but not vital.(Represents the high priority item that should be included in the solution if it is possible)
Co- Could have – Things that are nice to have. (Describes the requirement which is considered desirable but not necessary.
W- Won’t have – Things that provide little to no value can give upon. (Represents a requirement that stakeholders have agreed will not be implemented in the given release, but may be consider for the future)
What are the advantage of Moscow prioritization technique?
As we discussed earlier focused on what is more important that is giving importance to the highest value requirement and less priority to the lowest requirement.
Second less risk during development. For example if there is any change in the story progress,product owner can make changes without worrying much about product backlog.
Third flexibility while prioritizing due to this you can prioritize the urgent and neccessary features to build a product. Moscow technique helps decides whether to take or exclude certain features from your backlog instead of making a list of all the features and then deciding.
Fourth, Moscow method makes transparancy during the development phase since it is easy for all the stakeholders involved in developing the product to focus on one prioritization list. With this level of transparancy develpers can quickly realize which item should include in the each sprint or iteration.