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Free Feature Prioritization Matrix & Roadmap Templates

Blog Author: Productside Marketing

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The feature prioritization matrix (Excel file) and roadmap templates allow you to capture and prioritize feature requests and build out an effective and well-thought out product roadmap. Read our previous post about creating product roadmaps: How to Create Compelling Product Roadmaps | Tips and Best Practices for Success.

Download The Feature Prioritization Matrix Template

Instructions

  1. The Feature Prioritization Matrix lets you rank features within a product against your business criteria to make trade-off decisions and build consensus.
  2. The “Matrix Example” worksheet provides an illustration of how to fill out the prioritization matrix for a fictitious software company.
  3. Switch to the “Blank Matrix” to start creating your own feature prioritization
  4. Assign a weight for each criteria in cells E13 through L13 (make sure they add up to 100.) Build consensus with all stakeholders
  5. Enter the details for each Application, Major Feature, Feature Set, or Service on its own line.
  6. Assign a priority for each criteria for each application/feature (0 to 5.) These ranking must be defensible
  7. When finished adding and prioritizing all applications/features, sort results by selecting all filled in rows starting at column B15 to column M39
  8. Then sort the data in descending order based on column M (Total score)
  9. You now have a prioritized and ranked list of applications and features to work with your engineering and other teams to determine where the cutoff line should be.

About The Author

Productside Marketing

We’re the team behind the headlines, webinars, and memes that make product management sound as fun as it actually is.
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Frequently Asked Questions

A feature prioritization matrix is a structured framework product managers use to evaluate and rank feature requests against defined business criteria. It helps teams make defensible trade-off decisions, reduce stakeholder conflict, and focus engineering effort on the highest-value initiatives. The result is a clearer, data-driven path to building an effective product roadmap.
A feature prioritization matrix improves product roadmaps by replacing opinion-based decisions with transparent scoring and agreed-upon criteria. By weighting business factors such as customer value, strategic alignment, and effort, teams can confidently sequence features, set realistic cut lines, and create roadmaps that align execution with business outcomes.
The criteria in a feature prioritization matrix should reflect what drives success for your product and business. Common factors include customer impact, revenue potential, strategic fit, development effort, and risk. The most important step is gaining stakeholder agreement on both the criteria and their relative weights to ensure alignment and credibility.
Product managers use prioritization matrices to shift discussions from opinions to evidence. By agreeing on criteria and scoring features collaboratively, stakeholders see how decisions are made and why trade-offs are necessary. This transparency reduces conflict, increases trust, and helps teams commit to roadmap decisions even when not every request is included.
Yes, feature prioritization and roadmap templates are highly valuable for Agile teams. They provide a structured way to evaluate backlog items while remaining flexible as priorities change. When used iteratively, these tools help Agile product managers balance short-term delivery with long-term strategy and continuously refine the roadmap based on learning.

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