Product Management tools and cheat sheets — CIRCLES Problem Solving and RICE Prioritization

4 min readNov 14, 2019

Today I am sharing a breakdown of the CIRCLES Problem Solving and RICE Prioritization Frameworks and how to approach a problem in a thoughtful, methodical, and analytical way. I find this handy to follow along as I am working on a problem to ensure every step is taken with intention and meaning.

I like to think that other people would like to use this information as well so I figured I should share it with you all. Feel free to add me on LinkedIn and show some endorsement ❤ if you like the information!

CIRCLES Problem Solving & RICE Prioritization Method — Design Thinking Framework

By Matthew Knoot

How to answer the question, “What feature/product would you build and why?”

Comprehend the Situation

What is the product?
Who is it for?
Why do they need it?
How does it work?

Identify the Customer

What are the User Personas?
Examples — Hungry guests, guests looking for parking prior to arrival, lost guests looking for their group.

Report the Customer’s Needs

As a <user type> , I want to <perform some action> so that I <can achieve some goal/result/benefit>.
Example — As a hungry theme-park guest, I want to find places to eat so that I can satisfy my hunger cravings quickly.

Cut, through Prioritization

“I am going to do a Return On Investment (ROI) estimate using the RICE method.”
[R * I * C] / E Prioritization Method
[14 million * 50% * 75%] / 10 = 525,000 RICE Score <== Result can only be used compare with other options calculated with same types of values.
Reach — How many customers will this feature impact (Google the market size)? (Specific user group size?).
14 million — assuming 75% of our annual visitors.
Impact — How thoroughly will this feature solve our customer’s problem? (What alternative existing products or services might exist? Will it fulfill 80/20 rule solving 80% of the problem?)
50% (alternative is the in-park printed map).
Confidence — How confident am I in my estimates of Reach and Impact?
75%.
Effort — How much work/time/cost is this going to take?
10 Sprints — would need to ask Engineering team for realistic answer, can also answer in Fibonacci Sequence value for individual feature/user story [1, 2, 3, 5, 8].
Drawback to RICE method is having to group a diverse (higher/lower value) user base into one sum. Ideally it’s valuable for considering similarly valued groups of customers.

List Solutions

Reversal Method — reverse the situation to uncover new solutions.
Example: Help hungry guests find a place to eat quickly.
Need: Hungry guests may not even know where they are.
Solution based on reversal method: The app should locate the user and display pins with nearby food facilities with details like wait time, type of food, and relative cost.
Why Method — challenge the status quo.
Example: Help hungry guests find a place to eat quickly
Need: Why do guests need to go to a food facility? Why aren’t the food facilities mobile?
Solution based on why method: The theme-park can field a fleet of mobile food trucks or carts within the park.

Evaluate trade-offs

Be thoughtful, analytical, and objective.
Define your potential Trade-off Criteria (KPI’s) like cost, time, benefit, user satisfaction etc.
Make a grid and score each Trade-off Criteria (KPI) then total scores and compare.
Try a pro and con list for each potential solution, maintain neutrality do not get defensive .

Summarize Recommendation

What — Tell the interviewer/stakeholder which product or feature you recommend
Recap — Review why the solution is beneficial to the user/customer and/or the company.
Why vs. Others — Explain again quickly why this solution won in the Evaluate phase.

Here is a list of some popular Metrics tools you might want to try (no affiliation): Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, KISS Metrics, Mixpanel, Optimizely (also AB Testing), Segment, Adobe Analytics.