What is Value-Based Prioritization?
Value-based prioritization orders work by value contribution — economic (revenue, savings, cost of delay), risk reduction, and learning value — rather than by who shouted, what's easiest, or what was promised first. Techniques range from simple value/effort scoring to WSJF (weighted shortest job first: cost of delay ÷ duration), Kano analysis, and MoSCoW.
Cost of delay is the concept the exam increasingly expects: the value lost per unit time a thing isn't delivered — it makes "urgent" a number instead of a volume level.
Formula
WSJF = cost of delay ÷ job duration
Worked example
Three features compete: A saves $40K/month and takes 2 months (WSJF 20); B saves $60K/month, takes 6 (WSJF 10); C is the CEO's favorite, saves $10K/month, takes 1 (WSJF 10). A goes first — and crucially, the CEO accepts it, because the argument was arithmetic, not opinion. Sequencing by WSJF instead of announcement order is worth $130K in this tiny example alone.