Planet RoadmapWSJF Calculator
Score features the SAFe way — Cost of Delay divided by Job Size, on the Fibonacci scale. The table sorts by WSJF automatically so the next thing to ship is always at the top.
The WSJF formula
User-Business Value
The direct value a feature delivers to users or the business — revenue, retention, or core user benefit. Score relative to other items.
Time Criticality
How quickly value decays if you delay. Launch windows, regulatory deadlines, and competitive pressure all push this score higher.
Risk / Opportunity Enablement
Whether the feature reduces technical, market, or compliance risk — or unlocks future opportunities such as new platforms, integrations, or markets.
Job Size
Total duration to deliver — design, build, review, and release. Use the same Fibonacci scale so the units cancel out when you divide.
Frequently asked questions
What is WSJF?
WSJF stands for Weighted Shortest Job First. It is a prioritization method from the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) that ranks features by economic value: divide the Cost of Delay by the Job Size, and do the highest-scoring item first. The intuition is that short, high-value items should always go before long, low-value ones.
Where does WSJF come from?
WSJF is rooted in Don Reinertsen's Lean product development work and was adopted by SAFe as the default prioritization model for Program Increment planning. It is essentially the queueing-theory answer to "what should we do next" when capacity is fixed.
Why use a Fibonacci scale instead of raw numbers?
Fibonacci values (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20) force teams to make relative judgements rather than precise estimates. The growing gaps reflect uncertainty: it is easy to tell a 1 from a 3, but distinguishing a 13 from a 14 is meaningless. Relative sizing is faster and more accurate at the planning stage.
How do I estimate the three Cost of Delay components?
User-Business Value is the direct benefit to users or revenue. Time Criticality reflects whether value decays if you wait — think launch windows, regulatory deadlines, or competitor moves. Risk Reduction / Opportunity Enablement captures features that unblock future work or reduce technical, market, or compliance risk. Score each on the same Fibonacci scale, relative to the other items in the backlog.
What counts as Job Size — is it the same as effort or story points?
Job Size is total duration, not effort hours. It includes everything between starting and being able to release: development, design, dependencies, review, and rollout. Use the same Fibonacci scale you use for the value components so the units cancel cleanly when you divide.
When should I use WSJF instead of RICE?
Use WSJF when you have a portfolio of larger initiatives competing for capacity, especially in SAFe or quarterly planning contexts. It handles time-sensitive work better than RICE because Time Criticality is a first-class input. RICE works better for smaller features where Reach is easy to quantify and Confidence is the main source of uncertainty.
Run WSJF on your real backlog
Planet Roadmap lets every roadmap item carry its own WSJF inputs alongside customer feedback, votes, and impact data — so prioritization stays connected to the people asking for the work.
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