04 - Discovery Pipeline And Prioritization

Discovery Operating Model

• Continuous discovery cadence: weekly (minimum 2 customer conversations/week).

• Participant mix: learners (observed), parents/guardians, tutors, support specialists, and partner leads.

• Inputs: session analytics, intake recordings, support tickets, cancellation feedback, tutor notes, and progress reports.

Opportunity Backlog

Opportunity	Evidence	Segment	KPI Impact	Status
Reduce free-session booking drop-off	Families abandon booking when scheduling feels complex	Working families	Booking rate, CAC	In discovery
Improve attendance consistency at 4x weekly	Families miss sessions due routine conflicts	Working families + homeschool	Attendance, retention	In discovery
Raise tutor-child fit quality	Early mismatch drives cancellations in first month	All paid cohorts	Retention, NPS	Solutioning
Increase parent confidence via progress visibility	Families want clearer weekly proof of improvement	All paid cohorts	Retention, referrals	In discovery
Expand affordability pathways	Price-sensitive families request lower-commitment options	Price-sensitive segment	Conversion, market reach	Committed

Tooling Examples For Prioritization

• Jira: add numeric custom fields for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort, then compute RICE and sort backlog views automatically.

• Azure DevOps: use custom work-item fields and queries to highlight P0 + CP-Yes items before each planning cycle.

• GitHub Projects: define fields for RICE inputs and save a view for top-quartile opportunities.

• Jama Connect / IBM DOORS Next: run formal review workflows when requirement priority changes need auditable sign-off.

Visual Prioritization Boards (Agile + PMBOK)

RICE Bubble Plot (Impact vs Effort)

Agile portfolio triage: prioritize items in the upper-left quadrant (high impact, low effort). Bubble size approximates reach for quick planning conversation.

Discovery Funnel (PMBOK Scope Filtering)

Combines Agile discovery flow with PMBOK scope control. Each stage narrows variability and improves execution confidence before commitment.

Prioritization Framework (RICE)

RICE score = (Reach x Impact x Confidence) / Effort

Industry Context: RICE and Priority Labels

Intercom published the RICE framework in 2016 after observing that their teams consistently advocated for features that were exciting to build but reached very few users. The problem was that gut-check prioritization rewarded enthusiasm. Adding an effort denominator to the scoring formula exposed that bias directly — a high-effort, low-reach feature that scored well in a meeting rarely survived a RICE calculation. Reach is measured in people per time period; Effort is measured in person-weeks. The framework was published by Sean McBride on the Intercom blog and has since been adopted widely.

The P0–P3 labels used in this portfolio are derived from Google’s internal severity taxonomy for production defects. P0 means “blocks launch or blocks the business,” not “high priority in someone’s opinion.” The distinction carries an obligation: a P0 label implies that work stops until the issue is resolved, not that it goes to the top of the next sprint backlog. Using Google’s severity hierarchy rather than a custom scale keeps the labels interpretable without explanation.

Initiative	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	RICE	Priority
One-click free-session booking flow	10	8	8	3	213.3	P1
Tutor fit confidence preview in intake	8	8	7	4	112.0	P1
Attendance rescue automation (nudges + reschedule)	9	7	7	5	88.2	P1
Parent weekly progress digest v2	7	7	8	4	98.0	P2
Plan selection framing test	6	6	7	3	84.0	P2

Experiment Pipeline

Experiment	Hypothesis	Success Metric	Owner	Duration	Result
Booking funnel simplification A/B	Fewer steps increase completed free-session bookings	+20% booking completion	Growth + Design	3 weeks	Planned
Tutor matching confidence prompt test	Explicit fit rationale improves paid conversion	+6 points free-to-paid conversion	Growth	4 weeks	Planned
Attendance rescue workflow pilot	Proactive reminders and flexible rescheduling reduce no-shows	-20% missed sessions	Success	6 weeks	Planned
Plan framing test (monthly vs commitment savings)	Framing long-term plans by outcomes improves retention intent	+10% selection of 3+ month plans	Revenue	4 weeks	Planned

Discovery Quality Bar

• Every major initiative has at least one qualitative and one quantitative signal.

• Risks documented before commitment.

• Negative findings are recorded and re-used.

• Every child-facing change includes educator review and age-appropriateness check.

• Family-facing copy and flow changes are validated with parent comprehension checks.

Exit Criteria

• Top 10 opportunities scored with latest evidence refresh every month.

• Top 3 initiatives validated enough for delivery commitment each quarter.

• At least one rejected idea archived with rationale and supporting data each quarter.

• MVP backlog includes only initiatives with measurable learning or activation impact.

• At least one major conversion and one major retention assumption validated each quarter.