Product & metrics

RICE Scoring

Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort, for prioritising features.

⏱ 9 minBeginnerBy IntercomSince 2016

R × I × C

Use it when

Prioritising a backlog with your product team.

You'll walk away with

A ranked list of ideas with scores.

Step 1 · The idea

Prioritise with a number, not the loudest voice

RICE is a prioritisation method created by product manager Sean McBride at Intercom (2016). You score each idea on Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort, then calculate:

RICE score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) ÷ Effort

It makes you think about each factor separately and compare very different ideas on one scale.

Designers get pulled into prioritisation meetings all the time. Knowing RICE helps you argue for the small UX fix that helps thousands of people.

The model

The four factors

Reach

How many people or events it affects in a time period.

Example: 12,000 users check a pending refund per quarter.

Impact

How much it moves the goal for each person: 3 massive, 2 high, 1 medium, 0.5 low, 0.25 minimal.

Example: Clear failure reasons that stop panic: high (2).

Confidence

How sure you are about the other numbers: 100% high, 80% medium, 50% low.

Example: Backed by support data and interviews: 80%.

Effort

Total work from everyone (design, engineering, QA), in person-months.

Example: About 3 person-months.

Step 2 · Try it

RICE calculator

Edit any value. The ranking updates as you type. Reach is per quarter; effort in person-months.

Idea	Reach / qtr	Impact	Confidence	Effort (p-m)	Score
					9,600
					4,800
					1,500
					625
					1,000

Ranking

Refund status tracker (initiated → credited)

9,600

Plain-language reasons for failed payments

4,800

Saved groups for splitting bills

1,500

Dark mode

1,000

AI chatbot for all questions

625

Step 3 · Worked example

The chatbot vs. the status update

A fictional payments app team at “PayKaro” has five ideas and one quarter.

Leadership

We need an AI chatbot. Everyone has one.

Huge reach… but will it help?

Step 1

The loud idea

The chatbot reaches everyone, but nobody knows if it will help, and it's 6 months of work.

Reach highConfidence low

Refund status

✓ Refund initiated

✓ Sent to your bank

○ Credited

Step 2

The quiet idea

Support logs show thousands of “where is my refund?” tickets. A status tracker takes one month.

EvidenceEffort low

Refund tracker9,600

Failure reasons4,800

Split groups1,500

Chatbot625

Step 3

Score them

The small, well-evidenced fix wins by a mile. The chatbot needs research before it's worth building.

RICE

Fictional example; numbers match the calculator's starting values.

Watch out

Common mistakes

✓ Do

Use the same time period for reach across all ideas
Include all effort: design, engineering, QA, content
Lower confidence when evidence is thin
Use scores to start discussion, not end it
Re-score when you learn more

✗ Avoid

Inflating impact for pet projects
Treating small score differences as meaningful
Forgetting dependencies and strategy
Scoring alone — do it with engineering and product
Ignoring must-do work (legal, security) that doesn't fit RICE

Cheat sheet

RICE in one screen

SCORE = (REACH × IMPACT × CONFIDENCE) ÷ EFFORT

REACH       people/events per time period (e.g. per quarter)
IMPACT      3 massive · 2 high · 1 medium · 0.5 low · 0.25 minimal
CONFIDENCE  100% high · 80% medium · 50% low (below = moonshot)
EFFORT      person-months across all disciplines

TIPS  same time period for all · score as a team · re-score with new data

Use it at work

Figma template

A ready-made canvas for running this framework with your team. Free, editable, and it works in Figma and FigJam.

Figma & FigJam · free

RICE prioritisation sheet

Scoring table
Reach, impact, confidence and effort scales

1Download the SVG, or copy it to your clipboard.
2In Figma or FigJam, drag the file onto the canvas — or paste with ⌘V / Ctrl V.
3Everything arrives as editable layers: type in the boxes, add stickies, duplicate rows.

Download SVGOpen in Figma ↗

Check yourself