Idea Prioritization (ICE Framework)
Goal
Ingest an idea description and current state, score it on Impact, Confidence, and Ease, and compute the ICE Score = Impact x Confidence x Ease to propose an execution priority. All evaluations must follow explicit criteria and rely only on stated evidence; no inference or guesswork.
When to use
- To quickly order an idea backlog and select items for exploration and experiments
- When you have at least some explicit evidence (interviews/data/tests) and a rough team effort estimate
- Before drafting experiment plans for a leaf opportunity in an Opportunity Solution Tree
Input
- Idea title and description: goal, target metric, scope, and working hypothesis
- Idea analysis and current state: data/user/market/test evidence, execution hypothesis, risks, and effort estimate
- Optional:
- Target metric and expected change rate (%) or range
- Estimated effort (person-weeks)
Output
- Format: Markdown (
.md)
- Location:
initiatives/[initiative]/solutions/
- Filename:
ice-[YYYY-MM-DD]-[slugified-idea-title].md
Scoring model
For the full scoring model details, see references/ice-scoring-model.md.
Quick reference
- Impact: Map expected metric change (%) to a 0-10 scale
- Ease: Map estimated effort (person-weeks) to a 10-1 scale (less effort = higher ease)
- Confidence: Sum weighted evidence contributions with group caps
- ICE Score = Impact x Confidence x Ease
Priority buckets
| Score |
Guidance |
| >= 250 |
Consider immediate execution (high expected ROI) |
| 150-249 |
Promising; recommend additional precision testing |
| 100-149 |
Proceed with mitigations or phase-two testing |
| < 100 |
On hold or needs strengthening |
Process
- Input validation: Verify target metric, expected change (%), evidence text, and estimated effort (person-weeks). If missing, ask clarifying questions.
- Impact scoring: Map % change to the Impact table; if missing, apply default Impact 2.
- Ease scoring: Map person-weeks to the Ease table; if uncertain, use conservative lower ease.
- Evidence extraction and classification: Count only impact-related evidence from the input. Tally per type and apply group caps.
- Confidence calculation: Sum per-type contributions, apply group caps, compute final Confidence (0-10).
- ICE computation: Compute ICE = I x C x E; assign priority bucket.
- Report generation: Include score table, calculation rationale, cap applications, risks/assumptions, and recommended next steps.
Output format
# ICE Evaluation -- [Idea Title]
## Overview
- **Idea:** [Title]
- **One-line Summary:** [Brief description]
- **Target Metric:** [Metric name]
- **Assumptions/Scope:** [Key assumptions]
## Score Summary
- **Impact:** [I] (basis: [expected % change or default rule])
- **Ease:** [E] (basis: [person-weeks])
- **Confidence:** [C] (see details in references/ice-scoring-model.md)
## ICE Calculation
- ICE = [I] x [C] x [E] = **[Score]**
- **Priority Guidance:** [Bucket label]
## Input Summary
- **Expected Metric Change:** [value/none -> default 1.5% applied]
- **Estimated Effort (person-weeks):** [value/uncertain]
- **Evidence Excerpts:**
- [Excerpt 1; classified as: user/market/test/...]
- [Excerpt 2; classified as: ...]
## Risks / Assumptions
- [Key risk]
- [Key uncertainty]
## Recommended Next Steps
- [Tests/data collection/research/prototype]
- Confidence Improvement Plan: [Which evidence to strengthen]
## Notes
- ICE is a fast comparison/sorting tool; final decisions must also consider strategy, market, and resources.
Guardrails
- Do not invent or infer evidence or over-credit weak signals
- Exclude evidence not directly tied to Impact from Confidence
- When uncertain, apply conservative caps and document in "Risks/Assumptions"
- Prevent duplicate counting of the same source/content
Customization (team tuning)
- Adjust Impact bands to your target metric sensitivity
- Adjust Ease bands to team speed/role mix
- Extend evidence keywords to your domain language, while preserving the "explicit evidence only" rule
- Recalibrate bucket thresholds per quarterly capacity/roadmap density
Follow the writing standards in _shared/writing-standards.md for all outputs.
Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.
1---2name: mjrtl-pm-agent-skills-idea-prioritization3description: Idea Prioritization (ICE Framework)4---56# Idea Prioritization (ICE Framework)78## Goal910Ingest an idea description and current state, score it on **Impact, Confidence, and Ease**, and compute the **ICE Score = Impact x Confidence x Ease** to propose an execution priority. All evaluations must follow explicit criteria and rely only on stated evidence; no inference or guesswork.1112## When to use1314- To quickly order an idea backlog and select items for exploration and experiments15- When you have at least some explicit evidence (interviews/data/tests) and a rough team effort estimate16- Before drafting experiment plans for a leaf opportunity in an Opportunity Solution Tree1718## Input1920- **Idea title and description**: goal, target metric, scope, and working hypothesis21- **Idea analysis and current state**: data/user/market/test evidence, execution hypothesis, risks, and effort estimate22- Optional:23 - Target metric and expected change rate (%) or range24 - Estimated effort (person-weeks)2526## Output2728- **Format:** Markdown (`.md`)29- **Location:** `initiatives/[initiative]/solutions/`30- **Filename:** `ice-[YYYY-MM-DD]-[slugified-idea-title].md`3132## Scoring model3334For the full scoring model details, see `references/ice-scoring-model.md`.3536### Quick reference3738- **Impact**: Map expected metric change (%) to a 0-10 scale39- **Ease**: Map estimated effort (person-weeks) to a 10-1 scale (less effort = higher ease)40- **Confidence**: Sum weighted evidence contributions with group caps41- **ICE Score** = Impact x Confidence x Ease4243### Priority buckets4445| Score | Guidance |46|---|---|47| >= 250 | Consider immediate execution (high expected ROI) |48| 150-249 | Promising; recommend additional precision testing |49| 100-149 | Proceed with mitigations or phase-two testing |50| < 100 | On hold or needs strengthening |5152## Process53541. **Input validation**: Verify target metric, expected change (%), evidence text, and estimated effort (person-weeks). If missing, ask clarifying questions.552. **Impact scoring**: Map % change to the Impact table; if missing, apply default Impact 2.563. **Ease scoring**: Map person-weeks to the Ease table; if uncertain, use conservative lower ease.574. **Evidence extraction and classification**: Count only impact-related evidence from the input. Tally per type and apply group caps.585. **Confidence calculation**: Sum per-type contributions, apply group caps, compute final Confidence (0-10).596. **ICE computation**: Compute ICE = I x C x E; assign priority bucket.607. **Report generation**: Include score table, calculation rationale, cap applications, risks/assumptions, and recommended next steps.6162## Output format6364```markdown65# ICE Evaluation -- [Idea Title]6667## Overview68- **Idea:** [Title]69- **One-line Summary:** [Brief description]70- **Target Metric:** [Metric name]71- **Assumptions/Scope:** [Key assumptions]7273## Score Summary74- **Impact:** [I] (basis: [expected % change or default rule])75- **Ease:** [E] (basis: [person-weeks])76- **Confidence:** [C] (see details in references/ice-scoring-model.md)7778## ICE Calculation79- ICE = [I] x [C] x [E] = **[Score]**80- **Priority Guidance:** [Bucket label]8182## Input Summary83- **Expected Metric Change:** [value/none -> default 1.5% applied]84- **Estimated Effort (person-weeks):** [value/uncertain]85- **Evidence Excerpts:**86 - [Excerpt 1; classified as: user/market/test/...]87 - [Excerpt 2; classified as: ...]8889## Risks / Assumptions90- [Key risk]91- [Key uncertainty]9293## Recommended Next Steps94- [Tests/data collection/research/prototype]95- Confidence Improvement Plan: [Which evidence to strengthen]9697## Notes98- ICE is a fast comparison/sorting tool; final decisions must also consider strategy, market, and resources.99```100101## Guardrails102103- Do not invent or infer evidence or over-credit weak signals104- Exclude evidence not directly tied to Impact from Confidence105- When uncertain, apply conservative caps and document in "Risks/Assumptions"106- Prevent duplicate counting of the same source/content107108## Customization (team tuning)109110- Adjust Impact bands to your target metric sensitivity111- Adjust Ease bands to team speed/role mix112- Extend evidence keywords to your domain language, while preserving the "explicit evidence only" rule113- Recalibrate bucket thresholds per quarterly capacity/roadmap density114115Follow the writing standards in `_shared/writing-standards.md` for all outputs.116117---118> Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/mjrtl) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.119<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-15 -->