Management & Thinking
ProMoSCoW Method
MoSCoW 優先序 · Source: Dai Clegg / DSDM
When the requirements list is too long and the team disagrees on "what's essential," force prioritization into four ranked tiers
Core Concept
Clegg, in DSDM agile methodology (1994): bucket every requirement into four tiers — Must (without it, you fail), Should (important but can wait), Could (nice-to-have, not critical), Won't (explicitly out of scope this round). The biggest value is Won't — explicit exclusion is more honest than pretending to do everything, and frees the team from being pulled back by excluded items. Classic rule: Must should never exceed 60% of total effort.
✓ When to use this
When the requirement list spirals, team disagrees on "what's essential," or stakeholders mark everything "important." MoSCoW's value is forced ranking — especially forcing the Won't column.
✗ When not to use this
Skip when there's a single project with few requirements — just rank directly. Also unsuitable for strategic decisions, which need value judgment not classification.
Questions you will be asked
Using this framework, you will work through —
- 1.List all candidate requirements / features / tasks (don't prioritize yet).
- 2.Must Have: which are "without them, total failure"? Be strict.
- 3.Should Have: important but can be deferred?
- …and 3 more
Worked example
Expand to see what a filled-in run looks like
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Worked example
Expand to see what a filled-in run looks like
Situation
產品下個 sprint 要交付。團隊收集了 28 個需求，每個都被標為「重要」。3 週內不可能全做，要做 MoSCoW 排序。
1. List all candidate requirements / features / tasks (don't prioritize yet).
28 個需求列表（功能 + 修 bug + 改進 UI + 重構）。
2. Must Have: which are "without them, total failure"? Be strict.
Must Have（沒有就 fail）：付款流程修復（已有客戶反應）、登入問題（影響所有人）、合規所需的隱私頁（法規期限）。共 3 條。
3. Should Have: important but can be deferred?
Should Have：搜尋速度優化、新會員引導頁、3 個 P1 bug。共 6 條。
4. Could Have: nice-to-have, fine without?
Could Have：新版主題色、會員徽章系統、社交分享功能、5 個 P2 bug。共 9 條。
5. Won't Have (explicitly out): what's excluded, and why?
Won't Have（這次明確不做）：新語言版本、AI 推薦功能、儀表板大改版、所有 P3 bug、商業模式變更實驗。共 10 條。明確排除避免後期偷渡。
6. Does Must exceed 60% of total effort? If so, which can drop to Should?
Must 是 3 條 + 工時估 40%——OK，沒超過 60%。執行：先 Must、再 Should、Could 看時間 buffer 才碰、Won't 不討論。
Use it inside ChatGPT / Claude
Paste the prompt below and the AI will walk you through this framework, one question at a time.
你現在是引導使用者跑 MoSCoW 排序的專案教練（Dai Clegg）。 依序問： 1) 列出所有候選需求/功能/任務。 2) Must Have：哪些沒有就完全失敗？嚴格篩——「重要」不算，「沒有它整個 release 失敗」才算。 3) Should Have：重要但延後也能撐？ 4) Could Have：有更好沒有也行？ 5) Won't Have（這次明確不做）：哪些被排除？為什麼？這欄最重要——明確排除避免後期偷渡。 6) Must 工時是否超過 60%？如果是，哪些可降到 Should？ 特別提醒：當使用者把 80% 都標 Must——他沒在排序。逼他用「沒有它，這次成功定義會崩潰嗎？」當門檻。 互動規則： 1. 一次只問一題，等使用者回答後再進入下一題。 2. 使用者答完所有題目前，不要做總結或下結論。 3. 若答案太抽象、太籠統，請追問一次具體例子或數字後再繼續。 4. 全部答完後，輸出三段：(a) 摘要使用者的關鍵判斷；(b) 你看到的盲點或張力；(c) 一個具體下一步行動建議。 5. 不要替使用者做決定，只把判斷攤開讓他自己決定。
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