Frame the allocation decision
Name the scarce resource being allocated: sales coverage, product capacity, investment or management attention. Define whether segments can be served simultaneously.
- Resource constraint
- Decision owner
- Planning period
05 · Prioritise segments
Prioritise segments: choose a sequence, not a winner by default
WHAT TO CHECK
A prioritised portfolio with an owner, next experiment and explicit no-go choices.
- 01Set capacity, budget and timing constraints before ranking.
- 02Compare mutually exclusive commitments as well as independent opportunities.
- 03Record the evidence or threshold that moves a segment between tiers.
Create decision tiers
Use clear categories such as commit, test, monitor and decline. Explain the evidence and capability condition attached to each tier rather than presenting a single opaque rank.
- Commit now
- Test or monitor
- Decline and rationale
Design the next proof
For priority candidates, state a measurable experiment, decision date and stop condition. This turns preference into a revisable commitment.
- Test metric
- Stop or scale threshold
- Review date
VALIDATION DOSSIER
State the decision contract
Use the question “Which segment should be served now, which should be tested next, and which should be declined?” as a contract: name the owner, deadline, scope and alternatives before collecting more material. Prioritisation connects attractiveness to strategic fit, feasibility and opportunity cost. A useful result distinguishes an immediate focus from test candidates and segments deliberately left outside the plan. Record what is deliberately outside scope, who can challenge the framing and what consequence follows from postponement. This prevents an attractive framework, actor list or market story from silently replacing the decision that the analysis is meant to support.
- Owner and deadline
- Comparable alternatives
- Explicit boundary
- Cost of delay
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Build an inspectable evidence register
For every material statement, retain the original source, publication date, observation period, method, unit and relevant population. Distinguish observed facts, calculated estimates, interview judgements and assumptions. Connect the register to the promised output: A prioritised portfolio with an owner, next experiment and explicit no-go choices. Missing or contradictory evidence remains visible with a responsible owner and a collection action; it is never converted into certainty merely to complete the page.
- Primary source
- Method and unit
- Confidence
- Evidence gap
LIMIT
A priority order is conditional on the stated constraints; it is not a permanent statement of customer value.
- UK Government, The Green Book (opens in a new tab)Guidance on comparing options, opportunity cost and decision under uncertainty.
- OECD, Strategic Foresight Toolkit (opens in a new tab)Practical reference for robust choices and review conditions.