MoSCoW = Must, Should, Could, Won't

As stated in ProjectConstraints one of the most important things to do is manage scope and this is done by prioritising different features of the system. It is important therefore to have a clear and easily understood prioritisation scale. Using InventingTheWheel principle number one this is the adoption of a well know methodology. Coley Consulting have a good description or you could Google on it. Any requirement falls into one of four categories.

• Must: Requirements in this category are non-negotiable. If the system does not do them it has failed.
• Should: It is intended that the system will do things in this category. They are not, however, sacrosanct and may be sacrificed if their inclusion would lead to the loss of quality of solutions in the Must category. Sacrifice isn't so bad as it only means moving to the Won't category.
• Could: As Should is to Must so Could is to Should. Features in this category will definitely be sacrificed for higher category items. These things are 'nice-to-haves' that probably wouldn't cost to much or add significant project risk.
• Won't: As important to identify as the Must requirements. These are things that will not be done this time round. They may be very important but they are not going to be implemented now. They are here so that Quality is not lost in what is actually delivered - see ProjectConstraints.

-- RogerHyam - 24 Oct 2005