FDE Foundations · Module 3: Problem Framing & Scope
Prioritization and Trade-offs
Prioritization is arithmetic plus honesty: value against effort and risk per item, then phase the bottom of the list rather than lowering the quality bar on the top.
9 min reading
Objectives
- Rank scope by value against effort and risk
- Cut scope by phasing instead of by quality
- Communicate a trade-off decision in one paragraph
Score the items
For each capability, estimate three things: value to the primary metric, effort in days, and delivery risk (unknowns, dependencies, approvals). A simple table forces the conversation out of opinions and into numbers you can argue about.
Phase, do not dilute
When scope must shrink, move items to phase two rather than reducing quality everywhere. A thinner system that fully works, with clean failure behavior and docs, beats a broad system that half works. Customers forgive phasing; they do not forgive unreliability.
Saying no
A useful one-paragraph pattern: restate the goal, state the constraint in numbers, offer the nearest option that fits, and name what the choice costs. "We can ship extraction plus matching by the 15th; full audit reporting lands a week later because it needs the review workflow." Decisions with stated costs get accepted; silent cuts get discovered.
Revisit on new information
Priorities set at framing are guesses. When discovery data or early build results contradict them, re-run the table with the customer instead of defending the old list.
Quick check
An optional 2-3 question self-check. Answers never leave your device, are not stored, and never count toward any assessment.
Exercise
Score six capabilities of a fictional onboarding-automation project in a value/effort/risk table, then write the one-paragraph trade-off note that phases the bottom two.
Pass criteria
Table has numbers for all six items, phasing decision follows from the numbers, and the paragraph names what is delayed and why in one sentence.