15 KiB

Raw Blame History

Module 06: Trigger Mapping

Lesson 7: Workshop 4 - Prioritization

Saga Guides You to Rank What Matters Most

Overview

Workshop 4 is where Saga helps you make strategic choices about what matters most. Through guided conversation, Saga walks you through ranking your target groups and their psychological drivers to create clear priorities that guide all design decisions.

Duration: 15-20 minutes Format: Guided dialog with Saga (making hard strategic choices together) Output: Ranked target groups + ranked drivers for each group (documented by Saga)

How the Guided Dialog Works

Phase 1: Saga Helps You Rank Target Groups

Saga guides you through strategic comparison:

Working from your personas in Workshop 2, Saga asks comparative questions to help you think through which groups have the highest strategic value. She considers business impact, feasibility, and urgency of pain together.

Natural conversation flow:

Saga: "You have three groups: Remote Team Leads, Solo Workers, and Executives. Which one has the most potential to drive your 5,000 team goal?" You: "Probably Team Leads - each one brings their whole team..." Saga: "Good insight. So each Team Lead is a multiplier. Can you actually reach them?" You: "Yes, through LinkedIn and management communities." Saga: "And what about their pain - how urgent is it?" You: "Very urgent - team burnout is happening now, not someday." Saga: "So Team Leads rank #1 for impact, feasibility, AND urgency. Now let's compare Solo Workers and Executives..."

Saga documents the ranking with strategic reasoning for each placement. This ranking determines which groups get design focus first.

Phase 2: Saga Helps You Rank Drivers for Each Group

For each target group, Saga guides driver prioritization:

Using the psychological drivers from Workshop 3, Saga helps you identify which 5-7 drivers have the most power to drive behavior. She asks about emotional intensity, urgency, and impact.

Dialog example:

Saga: "For Remote Team Leads, you identified 8 drivers. Which fear keeps them up at night most?" You: "Probably the fear of team members burning out without them noticing..." Saga: "Why is that #1 instead of fear of missed deadlines?" You: "Because burnout affects people they're responsible for. Deadlines are project-level, but burnout is personal." Saga: "So there's guilt and responsibility there. That's a powerful emotional core. Let's rank the rest..."

Saga limits you to top 5-7 drivers - these become your feature scoring criteria in Workshop 5.

Saga's Conversational Approach

How Saga Guides Prioritization

Saga doesn't just ask "rank these" - she guides you through strategic thinking about WHY one ranks higher than another. She uses comparative questions that force real tradeoff decisions.

Ranking target groups - Saga's comparative questions:

Saga: "You have Remote Team Leads and Solo Workers. Which will have bigger impact on [your specific business goal]?" You: [You make a choice with reasoning] Saga: "And can you actually reach Team Leads more easily than Solo Workers?" You: [You think through feasibility] Saga: "What about urgency - whose pain is more urgent?" You: [You compare pain levels] Saga: "So based on impact, feasibility, and urgency together, Team Leads rank higher. Why?"

Saga's questions that drive target group ranking:

"Which group's behavior most directly drives [your top business goal]?"
"Can you reach [Group A] more easily than [Group B]? How?"
"Whose pain is more urgent - [Group A] or [Group B]?"
"What's the multiplier effect? Does one group bring others?"
"If you had to pick just ONE group to serve excellently, which and why?"
"Why does [this group] rank higher than [that group] strategically?"

Ranking drivers - Saga's intensity questions:

Saga: "For Remote Team Leads, which driver has the most emotional intensity?" You: "Fear of burnout..." Saga: "Why does that rank above 'want to demonstrate leadership'?" You: "Because the fear is immediate - burnout could be happening now..." Saga: "And between fear of burnout and fear of losing top performers - which keeps them up more at night?" You: [You compare the emotional intensity]

Saga's questions that drive driver ranking:

"Which driver has the strongest emotional pull for [persona]?"
"Which fear keeps them up at night most?"
"Between [Driver A] and [Driver B], which would drive more urgent action?"
"Which drivers are constant worries vs occasional concerns?"
"If this feature only solved ONE driver, which would have the most impact?"
"We need to narrow to 5-7 drivers. Which can we set aside for now?"

Saga's Facilitation Techniques

Like BMad v6, Saga:

Forces comparisons - "Which matters more, A or B?" not "rate these 1-10"
Asks for reasoning - "Why does this rank higher?" surfaces strategic thinking
Challenges inconsistencies - "You said impact matters most, but you ranked the high-impact group lower. Why?"
Limits choices - Guides you to top 5-7 drivers, prevents "everything is priority #1"
Traces to business goals - "How does prioritizing this group help achieve [your objective]?"
Documents with reasoning - Captures not just rankings but WHY they rank that way

Generic Example

Target Group Rankings

1. Remote Team Leads (Priority #1)

Why #1: High impact (each brings 5-10 users), reachable through professional channels, urgent pain (team burnout risk), budget authority
Business impact: Directly drives user acquisition and retention goals
Feasibility: Can reach through LinkedIn, management communities

2. Solo Remote Workers (Priority #2)

Why #2: Large market size, moderate impact per user, chronic pain (less urgent than team leads)
Business impact: Volume play, good retention potential
Feasibility: Reachable through remote work communities

3. Remote Executives (Priority #3)

Why #3: High value per user, but harder to reach, longer sales cycles
Business impact: Strategic accounts, high revenue potential
Feasibility: Difficult to reach, requires different approach

Driving Force Rankings: Remote Team Lead

Top 5 Prioritized Drivers:

1. Fear of team burnout without noticing (NEGATIVE)

Why #1: Most urgent, highest emotional intensity, constant worry
Emotional core: Guilt and responsibility for people's wellbeing
Urgency: Very high (active problem)
Impact: Directly threatens their success

2. Want to demonstrate effective leadership (POSITIVE)

Why #2: Career driver, strong motivation, measurable outcome
Emotional core: Professional advancement and recognition
Urgency: High (ongoing career goal)
Impact: Affects long-term success

3. Fear of losing top performers (NEGATIVE)

Why #3: Business impact, reflects on leadership, costly outcome
Emotional core: Failure and loss
Urgency: High (retention risk)
Impact: Damages team and reputation

4. Want to build strong team culture (POSITIVE)

Why #4: Aspirational, important but less urgent
Emotional core: Pride in team cohesion
Urgency: Medium (long-term goal)
Impact: Enables other goals

5. Fear of missed deadlines (NEGATIVE)

Why #5: Important but less emotionally intense than top fears
Emotional core: Professional embarrassment
Urgency: Medium (project-dependent)
Impact: Situational

Prioritization Criteria

For Target Groups

Business Impact:

Which group's behavior most directly drives objectives?
Which group has power to make goals happen?
What's the multiplier effect? (e.g., team leads bring teams)

Feasibility:

Can we actually reach this group?
Do we have channels to communicate?
Can we serve them with our resources?
Is market size sufficient?

Urgency of Pain:

How urgent is their problem?
Are they actively seeking solutions?
What's the cost of not solving?

Strategic Fit:

Does this align with company strengths?
Is this a sustainable advantage?
Does this open future opportunities?

For Driving Forces

Emotional Intensity:

How strongly do they feel this?
Does this keep them up at night?
Is this a constant worry or occasional concern?

Urgency:

How immediate is the need?
What triggers action on this?
Is this active pain or chronic discomfort?

Impact on Behavior:

Would solving this drive adoption?
Would this prevent churn?
Does this create word-of-mouth?

Measurability:

Can we tell if we've addressed this?
Can users articulate this need?
Is there observable behavior change?

Why Prioritization Matters

Without Prioritization

Problems:

Try to serve everyone equally (serve no one well)
Build features that address minor drivers
Waste resources on low-impact groups
No clear focus for design

Result: Mediocre product that doesn't deeply solve anyone's problems.

With Prioritization

Benefits:

Focus design on highest-impact groups
Address most powerful psychological drivers
Allocate resources strategically
Create deep value for top segments

Result: Product that deeply solves urgent problems for strategic users.

The Prioritization Cascade

Once you have rankings, design decisions become clear:

Top Business Goal
    ↓
Top Target Group (who can best achieve this?)
    ↓
Top Psychological Driver (what drives them most?)
    ↓
Features that address this driver

Example:

Goal: Increase user retention to 70%
Top Group: Remote Team Leads (high retention potential)
Top Driver: Fear of team burnout without noticing
Top Feature: Daily team pulse check with burnout indicators
Why: Addresses their #1 fear, drives retention

What You Get from Workshop 4

✅ Clear strategic priorities - Saga helped you make hard choices about what matters most ✅ Ranked target groups - Know exactly which groups get design focus first ✅ Ranked drivers - Top 5-7 drivers per group, ordered by power to drive behavior ✅ Strategic reasoning - Saga documented WHY each ranking, not just the rankings ✅ Decision framework - Clear criteria for all future feature discussions ✅ Scoring criteria - These ranked drivers feed directly into Workshop 5 analysis ✅ No ambiguity - Saga prevented "everything is #1" by forcing real choices

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Refusing to Choose ("Everything Is Priority #1")

Problem: Insisting "All groups are equally important" Why it fails: Saga needs clear priorities for Workshop 5 - can't score features against 15 "top" drivers Fix: Let Saga force the hard choices through comparative questions

Mistake 2: Prioritizing by Ease Alone

Problem: "Let's rank the easiest group #1" Why it fails: Saga will challenge if it doesn't drive your business goals Fix: When Saga asks about business impact, be honest about tradeoffs

Mistake 3: Ranking Drivers by Logic Instead of Emotion

Problem: "This driver is more logical, so it should be #1" Why it fails: Saga's asking about emotional intensity and urgency, not logic Fix: When Saga asks "which keeps them up at night?" - answer honestly about emotion

Mistake 4: Insisting on Too Many "Top" Drivers

Problem: "We need all 10 drivers in the top priorities" Why it fails: Saga guides you to 5-7 for scoring - more than that dilutes focus Fix: Trust Saga's limit - you can add drivers back later if needed

Mistake 5: Losing Connection to Business Goals

Problem: Ranking based on interesting psychology without strategic reasoning Why it fails: Saga will challenge: "How does prioritizing this help achieve [your goal]?" Fix: When Saga asks about business impact, trace the chain clearly

Mistake 6: Not Articulating WHY in Rankings

Problem: Just saying "#1, #2, #3" without explaining reasoning Why it fails: Saga needs the WHY to document strategic rationale Fix: When Saga asks "why does this rank higher?" - think it through with her

How This Feeds Into Workshop 5

Workshop 4 creates the scoring criteria:

Business Goals
    ↓
Target Groups (ranked)
    ↓
Driving Forces (ranked for each group)
    ↓
Top 5-7 Drivers (scoring criteria)
    ↓
Workshop 5: Score features against these drivers

The top-ranked drivers become the columns in your feature scoring matrix.

Tips for a Successful Dialog with Saga

DO:

✅ Make the hard choices when Saga asks "which matters MORE, A or B?"
✅ Articulate WHY one ranks higher - Saga documents your strategic reasoning
✅ Let Saga challenge inconsistencies - it sharpens your thinking
✅ Consider impact, feasibility, AND urgency together - not just one factor
✅ Trust Saga's limit of 5-7 top drivers - focus is the goal
✅ Trace rankings back to business goals when Saga asks
✅ Think about emotional intensity, not just logical importance

DON'T:

❌ Say "they're all equally important" - Saga will keep asking until you choose
❌ Rank by ease alone without considering business impact
❌ Prioritize based on interesting psychology while ignoring your objectives
❌ Insist on keeping 10+ "critical" drivers - defeats the purpose
❌ Give rankings without explaining WHY - Saga needs the strategic rationale
❌ Ignore emotional intensity when ranking drivers - urgency matters

What's Next

Workshop 5 uses these priorities to systematically score features. Each feature gets rated against your top-ranked drivers, creating a data-driven roadmap.

Key Takeaways

✅ Guided strategic choices - Saga forces hard decisions through comparative questions ✅ Ruthless prioritization - Saga prevents "everything is #1" by requiring choices ✅ Two levels of ranking - Groups first (by strategic value), then drivers (by emotional power) ✅ Strategic criteria - Impact + feasibility + urgency considered together ✅ Top 5-7 drivers - Saga limits you to focus, these become Workshop 5 scoring criteria ✅ Reasoning documented - Saga captures WHY each ranking, not just the order ✅ Traceability - Rankings connect directly back to Workshop 1 business goals ✅ Like BMad v6 - Comparative dialog that forces clearer thinking than self-ranking alone

← Back to Module Overview | ← Back to Lesson 6 | Next: Lesson 8 - Workshop 5: Feature Impact →

Part of Module 06: Trigger Mapping

15 KiB Raw Blame History