What it is
RICE is a prioritization model created at Intercom to bring some objectivity to roadmap decisions. Instead of building whatever the loudest stakeholder wants, you score every idea on four factors and let a formula rank them. It will not make the decision for you, but it makes the tradeoffs explicit.
| Factor | Question | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | How many will it affect? | Users per time period |
| Impact | How much will it move the goal? | 3 / 2 / 1 / 0.5 / 0.25 |
| Confidence | How sure are you? | 100% / 80% / 50% |
| Effort | How much work is it? | Person-months |
When to use it
- Roadmap planning. When you have more ideas than capacity, which is always.
- Comparing dissimilar ideas. RICE puts a big risky bet and a small safe one on the same scale.
- Defusing HiPPO decisions. A shared formula beats the highest-paid person's opinion.
How to apply it
- Estimate Reach. How many users or events the idea affects in a set period, for example "users per quarter." Use real numbers, not vibes.
- Rate Impact. How much it moves the goal, on a fixed scale: massive = 3, high = 2, medium = 1, low = 0.5, minimal = 0.25.
- Set Confidence. How sure are you of the Reach and Impact estimates? 100% for solid data, 80% for reasonable, 50% for a hunch.
- Estimate Effort. Total work in person-months across design, engineering, and product. This is the only factor that divides.
- Compute and sort. Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort. Rank ideas by score, highest first.
Example
Idea A reaches 5,000 users/quarter, medium impact (1), 80% confidence, 2 person-months: score = (5000 × 1 × 0.8) ÷ 2 = 2,000. Idea B reaches 500 users, massive impact (3), 50% confidence, 1 person-month: score = (500 × 3 × 0.5) ÷ 1 = 750. A wins, despite B feeling more exciting in the room. That is the point.
Score what actually moves your PMF
RICE ranks the work; your PMF score tells you if it worked. Measure the very disappointed segment before and after you ship the top-ranked idea.
Measure your PMF score free → 14-day free trial · No credit cardCommon mistakes
- False precision. RICE numbers are estimates. Do not treat a score of 2,000 as meaningfully different from 1,950.
- Ignoring confidence. The Confidence factor exists to punish exciting ideas built on guesses. Use it.
- Using RICE where Kano fits better. Must-have features are not optional line items. See the Kano Model.
How it connects to your PMF score
RICE tells you the order to build in. What it cannot tell you is whether the goal you are scoring against is the right one. Make that goal explicit: for a pre-fit startup, the thing worth moving is your PMF score, specifically the very disappointed segment. Score ideas by how much they would lift that, and pair RICE with the Kano Model so you fix must-haves before chasing high-RICE delighters.
Prioritize toward fit, then track it
PMFtracker measures your PMF score and its trend, so the ideas you rank with RICE can be judged on whether they actually moved fit, not just shipped.
Start Tracking PMF → Set up in 5 minutes · No credit card required
