--- title: Free Feature Prioritization Matrix @ Varstatt Discovery url: https://varstatt.com/discovery/feature-priorities description: Free AI feature prioritization matrix. Classifies features as core, supporting, or generic — then phases them into MVP, Growth, and Scale. section: AI Discovery Tools (https://varstatt.com/discovery) step: 5 of 8 previous: Market & Distribution (https://varstatt.com/discovery/market-distribution) next: Tech Strategy (https://varstatt.com/discovery/tech-strategy) --- # Sort Features Into What Ships First Free AI feature prioritization matrix. Classifies features as core, supporting, or generic — then phases them into MVP, Growth, and Scale. ## Why Use This Tool ### Auth and Billing Are Not Your Moat I've watched founders spend three weeks rebuilding what Stripe and Auth0 already solved. The agent splits your list into three buckets — core (the one thing people pick you for), supporting (necessary plumbing like user management or admin), and generic (auth, payments, email, file storage, search). Generic always gets bought. Always. Stripe has 3,000 engineers on payments — you have one. ### Important Is Not the Same as Core A feature can be expensive, load-bearing, and still not why anyone chooses you. The agent forces the test: finish the sentence "the reason someone picks us over the alternative is ___." Whatever fills that blank is core. Everything else has a different bucket. That's the line founders blur, and it's the line I make the agent hold. ### MVP, Growth, Scale — Phased by Impact Once the buckets are clean, phasing falls out of the prioritization matrix automatically. MVP is core plus the supporting features core depends on. Growth is retention and expansion work, with a trigger for when to start it. Scale is optimization for past-early-adopters. No quarterly roadmaps, no arbitrary dates — entry criteria instead. ## How It Works 1. **Bring Your Feature List** — Paste a feature list, or describe the product and the agent will extract features. 8-15 is the sweet spot. Past 25 it'll stop you and ask you to group into capabilities first. 2. **The Agent Classifies and Scores in One Pass** — Domain bucket (core, supporting, generic) and business impact (1-10) for every feature, presented together so you see the shape of the product, not one row at a time. 3. **Push Back, Get Pushed Back On** — If you land on 4+ core features, the agent forces a ranking — if everything is core, nothing is. If you want to build auth custom, expect resistance. You keep the final call; the agent flags the risks on every override. 4. **MVP, Growth, Scale Phasing** — Core ships in MVP with the supporting features it needs to function. Growth gets retention work plus a trigger ("when you've validated users want the core product"). Scale gets enterprise and performance work. The matrix becomes the scope you hand to a developer. ## FAQ ### What is a feature prioritization matrix? A feature prioritization matrix is a structured way to decide which features ship first when your list is longer than your budget. The standard product prioritization framework here scores every feature on two axes — domain bucket (core, supporting, generic) and business impact — then phases the list into MVP, Growth, and Scale. Core gets built. Generic gets bought. Supporting fills the gaps core needs to function. The matrix is the artifact you hand to a developer instead of an unranked wishlist. ### What if I think everything is core? You don't. Most products have 1-3 core features. If you mark 4+ as core, the agent rejects the list and forces a ranking — "if you could only ship three features and nothing else, which three?" I built that hard stop in because I've watched too many founders pad the core box with everything that feels important and then ship nothing actually differentiated. Six months later a copycat wins on the one thing they should have owned. ### How is this different from RICE or MoSCoW? RICE (Intercom, 2016) and MoSCoW (Dai Clegg, 1994) score features against a rubric. They don't surface the build-versus-buy line. This tool classifies first, then phases — so "buy auth, build the matching algorithm" comes out as an obvious answer instead of a debate. ### What are core, supporting, and generic? Core is your competitive advantage — the reason someone picks you over alternatives. Supporting is the plumbing that enables core but isn't unique (user management, admin panels, notifications). Generic is solved-problem territory (auth, payments, email, file storage, search). The classification feeds straight into [Tech Strategy](/discovery/tech-strategy). ### Will it cut features I think matter? It'll challenge them. Auth and payments get flagged as buy-not-build. Supporting features get deferred if core doesn't need them in the first phase. You override anything you want — but every override comes with a risk flag. The discipline behind cutting fast is [Scope Shaping](/principles/discovery/scope-shaping); the discipline behind keeping the core short is [Find the Core](/principles/discovery/find-the-core). ### How does phasing work? Phase 1 is all core features plus the supporting work they need to function — with a coherence check that a user can actually get the core value end-to-end. Growth is retention and expansion features behind a "validated users want the core product" trigger. Scale is performance and enterprise work past early adopters. Each phase has entry criteria, not dates. ### How many features should I bring? 8-15 is the sweet spot. Under 8 the agent may suggest features you're missing. Over 25 it stops you — that's a product strategy problem, not a prioritization one. Once the list is sized, [Build Cost](/discovery/build-cost) tells you what fits in your budget. ## Usage This tool is an AI-guided chat — it requires a browser to use. Prefill the conversation with your project context via URL: - `https://varstatt.com/discovery/feature-priorities?context=I+am+building+...` (max 2000 chars) Context carries forward across all discovery steps automatically once set.