Scope and Quality · tool 2 of 9

MoSCoW Prioritisation

MoSCoW Prioritisation: agrees what really matters when time, money or people are limited.

Best for: Scope and backlog decisions · Time: 1 workshop
Domain: Scope · Focus area: Planning

Must have

Release fails without it

Should have

Important, has a workaround

Could have

Nice to have, first to drop

Won’t have (now)

Agreed out of scope

Rule of thumb: Musts take no more than about 60% of the effort, so Should and Could act as contingency.

How it works

Every requirement goes into one of four buckets: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have (this time). The buckets turn vague “everything is a priority” into an explicit trade-off.

Must: without it the release is useless, illegal or unsafe.
Should: important but has a workaround; Could: nice to have.
Won’t: explicitly out — written down so it doesn’t come back.

How to apply it

List all requirements on cards.
With the sponsor or product owner, place each card in a bucket. Challenge every Must: “What happens if we don’t deliver it?”
Check the effort: Musts should stay under ~60% of the total.
Plan the Musts first. When you slip, drop Coulds, then Shoulds — never the deadline by default.

In practice

Mobile app v1: Must = login and payment; Should = push notifications; Could = dark mode; Won’t = Apple Watch app.

Pro tip

Write the Won’t list in the charter or backlog. It is your best protection against scope creep.

Use it

Playbook: We are going to miss the date
Playbook: Scope keeps growing

Quick check

The deadline is slipping. What do you drop first?

Sources

DSDM Agile Project Framework, MoSCoW prioritization

Last reviewed 2026-11-02 against the PMBOK® Guide, 8th edition · Practitioner review pending · How this guide is made