Buy a feature is a collaborative prioritisation game. Each feature gets a price in proportion to its cost, and each participant gets a play budget that is not enough to buy everything. People buy alone or pool money with others; whatever does not reach its price is not bought. The result shows what customers or stakeholders value when they have to choose, and the negotiation explains why.
How to use
- Enter the number of participants (up to 8) and the budget for each.
- Write one feature per row with its price.
- After the round, enter how much each participant (P1, P2...) put into each feature.
- See what was bought, what came close, each person’s spend and the warnings about budget and prices.
- Follow the facilitation steps in the result and export as PNG, CSV or Markdown.
What each field asks for
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Participants | From 1 to 8 people in the group. Each gets a column in the table (P1, P2...). |
| Budget per participant | Play money, the same for everyone. |
| Feature | E.g. custom reports |
| Price | In proportion to cost |
| P1 | Participant 1 |
| P2 | Participant 2 |
| P3 | Participant 3 |
| P4 | Participant 4 |
| P5 | Participant 5 |
| P6 | Participant 6 |
| P7 | Participant 7 |
| P8 | Participant 8 |
Example
Five customers of a project management tool get 100 each, 500 in total, for seven features that add up to 1,040 (the budget covers 48%). Custom reports (150, with three buyers) and spreadsheet integration (120, with two) are bought. Team-level permissions raises 170 of 180 (94%) and is nearly bought, a good point for discussion. Offline use, priced at 300, raises only 50 (17%).
When to use
- In customer sessions, to understand what they value when they cannot have everything.
- With internal stakeholders who call everything a priority: a limited budget forces explicit choices.
- Before closing the scope of a release, to bring evidence of perceived value into prioritisation.
- In customer advisory boards or power user groups, as an engagement exercise.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set the price of each feature?
Use the estimated build cost as the basis, on a simple scale. The price must reflect relative cost: if one feature costs twice as much as another, it should cost twice as much in the game. Make some more expensive than one person’s budget.
How much budget should each participant get?
A common recommendation is for the group total to cover between a third and a half of the sum of prices. With more, almost everything gets bought and there is no competition; with less, the group cannot buy anything. The tool warns you outside that range.
Why should some features cost more than one budget?
Because negotiation is the richest part of the game. When nobody can buy something alone, people have to persuade others, and their arguments reveal the value they see in each feature.
How many people should play?
Groups of 4 to 8 work well: enough for negotiation, few enough for everyone to speak. With more people, split them into groups and tally each one separately.
Does the result decide the roadmap?
No. The game is evidence about the value a specific group perceives. Combine the result with usage data, strategy and cost before deciding, and record the reasons that came up in the negotiation.
What happens to the surplus?
If the group paid more than the price, the surplus goes back to those who paid and can be spent on another feature in a second round. The tool shows the surplus for each feature bought.