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Prioritisation framework

One currency of value across everything that competes for a squad's time — remediation, new build, and feedback-driven change. Without a single framework, "sales asked for it" and "it's on fire" and "it's strategic" can't be compared.

The decision: WSJF​

RAPID uses Weighted Shortest Job First (Cost of Delay ÷ job size). Recommended because an insurance portfolio is dominated by regulatory deadlines and client commitments — exactly the time-sensitive value WSJF captures. RICE is the fallback where cost-of-delay is hard to estimate.

WSJF = Cost of Delay ÷ Job size — where Cost of Delay = business value + time criticality + risk/opportunity reduction.

How it's applied​

  • One backlog, one score. Security gaps, tech debt, features and feedback items are all scored the same way (see remediation-backlog standard).
  • Time criticality carries regulatory weight — an FCA deadline or a contractual date scores high on time criticality by definition.
  • Job size is agent-adjusted. Because agents collapse execution cost, "size" reflects direction/review effort and risk, not lines of code.

Rules​

  • The framework choice itself is an ADR so it isn't silently reopened per team.
  • Scores inform ranking; they don't replace judgement on genuinely strategic bets — but a strategic override is named and recorded, not assumed.

Standards referenced: WSJF (SAFe), Cost of Delay (Reinertsen), RICE.