Introducing the ICE framework

The ICE framework is the original scoring mechanism for growth marketing teams. It is widely considered to have been invented by Sean Ellis, considered by many to be one of the leaders in the growth hacking movement and now the CEO of GrowthHackers.com.

As a result, the ICE framework is probably the dominant scoring framework used by growth teams today.

What is a prioritisation framework?

A prioritisation framework, or growth strategy framework, is used by product teams, growth teams and marketing teams to prioritise work and to assist with decision making.

Using these frameworks ideas from marketing teams, product teams, stakeholders, partners and consultants are assigned a quantitative score to determine the order in which work should be done.

There are a number of prioritisation frameworks, or scoring frameworks, all centred around the same theme. These include:

Framework	Developed by	Scoring factors
RICE	Sean McBride at Intercom	Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort
ICE	Sean Ellis at GrowthHackers	Impact, Confidence, Effort
PIE	Chris Goward at WiderFunnel	Potential, Importance, Ease
HiPPO	n/a	Highest paid person’s opinion
BRASS	David Arnoux at Growth Tribe	Blink, Relevance, Availability, Scalability, Score
HIPE	Jeff Chang at Pinterest	Hypothesis, Investment, Precedent, Experience
DICET	Jeff Mignon at Pentalog	Dollars (or revenue) generated, Impact, Confidence, Ease, Time-to-money
PXL	Peep Laja at CXL	Above the fold, noticeable within 5 sec, high traffic pages, ease of implemention and more.

What does ICE stand for?

ICE is an acronym for 3 factors that make up an ICE score, these are:

• I – Impact
• C- Confidence
• E – Effort

Factor	Description
Impact	How impactful do I expect this test to be? Consider any relevant metrics and past data to calculate the likely impact on your baseline metric.
Confidence	How sure am I that this test will prove my hypothesis? Use data and past experience to assign a confidence score.
Ease	How easily can I get launch this test? As a marketer, if an idea needs no development work and you can complete it on your own, give it a higher score.

How do you calculate an ICE score?

Firstly, a score of between 1 and 10 is assigned to each individual factor (Impact, Confidence and Ease) and then all 3 scores are multiplied together to provide an overall score of between 3 and 30.

The biggest advantage of ICE prioritisation is its simplicity, decisions can be made very quickly, particularly where ‘good enough’ is the goal. That said, the main criticism is the subjectivity within the scoring, particularly for newer growth teams where there may be little or no historic data with which to accurately determine potential impact or confidence in an idea.

ICE framework template

The image below shows a set of ideas scored based on Impact, Confidence and Ease. The ideas with the highest score rise to the top of the list (or backlog) thereby creating a prioritised to-do list for the growth team.

Why use the ICE framework?

As with any prioritisation framework, the scores themselves are largely meaningless. The goal of using ICE prioritisation is to:

1. Assess the idea in a thoughtful, structured and unbiased way
2. Provide the ability to easily compare the ideas against others

Further resources

Other articles you might like

Here are some related articles and further reading you may find helpful.

• The HIPE framework: a prioritisation framework for growth marketers
• The BRASS framework: a prioritisation framework growth marketers
• The PXL framework: a prioritisation framework for growth marketers
• The PIE framework: a prioritisation framework for growth marketers
• The HiPPO Effect: A dangerous animal in growth