Create a RICE Method custom formula for JIRA Product Discovery

[Terry Neff]

Below is where I need assistance.  In the Expression block, I can not create a RICE formula with {reach}*{Impact}*{confidence}/{effort}.  I also show that I created fields for these parameters.  Impact score and effort parameters are already created. 

[Chris Timms]

Hi @Terry Neff ,

Just to check as it isn't clear from your screen shot - are you actually typing out a formula in the expression field? The Screen Shot appears to show just the example formula, but it actually an empty field.

[Terry Neff]

I've trying to insert the expression formula that I want:

{Reach} * {Impact} * {Confidence} / {Effort}

The "*" is not recognized per https://support.atlassian.com/jira-product-discovery/docs/expression-based-formulas/ 

Thanks

[Jan-Hendrik Spieth]

@Terry Neff I can't say where/how/why things fail on you, but I can say that we have a very similar formula in place, and for several fields, e.g. "{Reach} * {Improve} ... / {effort}", and it is working, just fine.

I also tried to create a new field using a similar custom formula - works as well.

Maybe you have to reach out to the Atlassian team to find out whether there is an issue that affects your cloud instance ...

P.S.: just like Chris wrote, your first screenshot looks as if you're not filling out the expression field, but only the name field. Do you get a similar message, when you actually enter your formula? What does it say?

[Tanguy Crusson]

Hi @Terry Neff , can you please share a screenshot for when you've typed the formula - what the app shows? the screenshot you shared just shows the placeholder text we have as an example for what you could type in that field. 

[Terry Neff]

Everyone - It's work now.  

The solution was to type it in Notepad + then copy/paste to Expression field. 

[Tanguy Crusson]

@Terry Neff the system wouldn't let you type directly in the Expression field?

[Terry Neff]

I could type in the field but would not recognize the "*". Example - {Reach} * , once the "*" was added, it would say "Invalid expression".  This also happen with "/" also. 

[Tanguy Crusson]

I see.

While you are typing, the UI tries to validate your formula as you go.

So, for example: 

"{Reach" --> invalid

"{Reach}" --> valid

"{Reach} * " --> invalid

"{Reach} * {Im" --> invalid

"{Reach} * {Impact}" --> valid

We'll see if we can improve that so it's clearer.

[Terry Neff]

Thank you!!!

[Kevin Gough]

Hi @Tanguy Crusson 

First off let me say I think it's a great product and just what we need for our team.

Was a little surprised it didn't do RICE scoring out of the box as I thought that had been showcased at one of the big events, maybe something for a future iteration?

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Anyway just thought I'd explain how I achieved this (to align with this Intercom blog) for anyone who might read this thread in future.

The first thing to note is that you can't use the default Impact, Confidence, and Effort fields as they don't work with the formula in the way we need them to. However they still have their purposes for quick visualisation, on matrix views, and other formulas that use weighted score for example.

Additionally Select type fields can't be used as they don't allow for fractions of numbers in the weighting.

So steps are as follows:

1. Create a Number field called "Reach (R)" or similar
   • Explain in the description what metric you want to use
2. Create a Number field called "Impact (I)" or similar to differentiate from the original
   • Explain in the description to only enter 3, 2, 1, 0.5, or 0.25 as values
   • Note: 0.25 is displayed as 0.3 in the views due to rounding / character limit but the underlying value used in the calculation is still 0.25 and you'll also see this number if you edit the value
   • Optionally add formatting for these numbers
3. Create a Number field called "Confidence % (C)" or similar to differentiate from the original
   • Explain in the description to only enter 1 for 100%, 0.8 for 80%, 0.5 for 50%, or 0 for anything below as the values. Fractions must be used as the field does not allow for percentages and there's no percentage type field.
   • Optionally add formatting for these numbers
4. Create a Number field called "Effort (E)" or similar to differentiate from the original
   • Explain in the description to only enter whole man-months i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc or 0.5 for anything less than a month as values
   • Optionally add formatting for these numbers possibly in ranges
5. Create a Custom Formula field called "RICE score" or similar
   • Expression will be {Reach (R)} * {Impact (I)} * {Confidence % (C)} / {Effort (E)} if you followed the above naming convention, otherwise replace with your own field names
   • Would definitely recommend adding formatting for the resulting values in ranges that make sense for your business, these can be tweaked later if needed
6. Finally this is optional but I'd recommend updating the descriptions on the original Impact, Confidence, and Effort fields to explain how values entered in the new fields should be mapped to the selections in these fields for complete clarity.
   • For example 1 in "Impact (I)" = Medium in "Impact" and so on
   • You'll need to define ranges that make sense for your business when mapping "Effort (E)" to "Effort"

Expression again is:

{Reach (R)} * {Impact (I)} * {Confidence % (C)} / {Effort (E)}

When you've done all the above you should end up with something like this.

Hopefully someone finds this useful! :)