MoSCoW Prioritization: Picking What Ships in 1.0
Two weeks before launch and the backlog is too long. The MoSCoW method, developed in the 1990s for agile software delivery, cuts through that with four buckets: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have. The capital letters spell the name, which makes it memorable, but the real value is the discipline of forcing every feature into one of those four categories. A common rule of thumb is to spend the bulk of remaining time on the Must haves and reserve roughly forty percent for Should and Could items, so the team hits 1.0 and still has momentum toward 1.1.
The method works best when each feature is a physical block you can move between buckets as the team debates, rather than a line item on a doc. That's where a set of write-on blocks turns prioritization into something tangible.
How Switch-Its run MoSCoW prioritization
Switch-Its magnetic dry-erase blocks let you write each feature on its own block and place it into one of four labeled columns: Must have, Should have, Could have, or Won't have. Because the blocks rearrange instantly, a feature can be promoted or demoted the moment the team's understanding shifts, and the whole board resets in seconds for the next release cycle.
Start with the full feature list
Write every feature on its own block, from AI suggestions to Slack integration. Lay them all out together so the size of the decision is visible to the whole team.
Sort into the four buckets
Move each feature into Must have, Should have, Could have, or Won't have. The Must column anchors 1.0, while Should and Could shape what comes next.
Lock in 1.0 and look ahead
Spend the bulk of remaining time on Must haves, and roughly forty percent on Should and Could items. The result is a real 1.0 plan with 1.1 already starting to take shape.
Turning each feature into a block you can physically move changes the conversation from arguing about what matters to demonstrating where each item belongs, which makes it much harder for a low-value feature to quietly stay on the Must list. Reserving capacity for Should and Could items means the team hits the launch date without losing momentum, and the same four-column structure resets in seconds for the next release.