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Overview

Every project has one planning mode, chosen when you create it. The choice comes down to one question, which is how the project wizard phrases it: The mode cannot be changed afterwards. Project Settings shows it as read-only under Planning Framework. If you need the other mode, create a new project.

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Weighted planning

Use Weighted planning when several people have a stake in the outcome and their influence should be explicit rather than assumed. What it needs from you
  • Needs: the outcomes stakeholders care about
  • Stakeholders, each with a weight; weights total 100
  • A rating from every stakeholder on every need, 1 to 5, either submitted by them in the voting portal or entered by you
  • Features, each with an effort estimate
  • Coverage: how much each feature delivers each need, 1 to 5
What it gives you
  • Analysis: features ranked by weighted value for effort, with a flag wherever stakeholders disagree
  • Roadmap: which features fit inside one planning period at your capacity, must-haves first, and which are deferred. Unlocks once the project has a capacity.
  • Allocation: a total budget, in hours or money or both, split across features in proportion to their weighted value. Unlocks once the project has a budget.
  • Decision Report: the ranked list, roadmap and allocation with an AI-written brief, saved versions, share links and print
Best for: roadmap decisions where several teams, departments or customer groups each have a legitimate say, and you need to show how much each one counted.

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Direct planning

Use Direct planning when you are the decision-maker and want a ranked list fast, with no voting and no weighting. What it needs from you
  • Features, each with an effort estimate and a priority: must, should or could
What it gives you
  • Analysis: features ranked by priority value divided by effort, so a small should can outrank a large must. Musts are guaranteed a place on the Roadmap, not the top of the ranking. The default values are 5 for must, 3 for should and 1 for could; you can change them under Project Settings, Custom Priority Values.
  • Roadmap: the same capacity-fitted plan Weighted projects get
  • Decision Report: the ranked list and roadmap, with saved versions, share links and print
Direct projects have no Needs, Stakeholders, Voting, Coverage or Allocation tab. Best for: a sprint, a bug backlog, a personal shortlist, or any decision where collecting other people’s ratings would be theatre.

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Where did allocation mode go?

Older versions of Weivo offered allocation as a third mode. It is now an output of Weighted planning: the same stakeholder votes and coverage that produce the ranking also produce the budget split, so you never have to choose between a ranked list and an allocation. Set a total in hours or money and the Allocation tab unlocks alongside Analysis and Roadmap.

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Choosing a mode

Both modes share the Roadmap. If you set a capacity in Project Settings and give every feature an effort, a Direct project gets the same capacity bar, deferred list and strategy comparison a Weighted one does.