Built by Ducalis for B2B software teams: score every idea or task on how it moves newly onboarded users from "signed up" to "recognizes the value" to "pays" — then weigh that against the real front-end, back-end, and UX/UI cost of shipping it.
Use TemplateThe Ducalis Framework was built for self-service B2B SaaS: a solid growth engine, faster, using fewer resources. Six impact drivers cover the customer journey from first login to upgrade; three effort drivers cover what it actually takes engineering and design to ship it. Read how to customize criteria for your business goals .
Activation
Conversion rate of new users who reach the "aha" moment and understand the product.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by expected lift in activation rate.
Delight
How much friction this removes, or convenience it adds, for users already in the product.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by satisfaction impact expected.
Retention
Reasons users come back — the inverse of churn drivers.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by expected impact on return rate.
Acquisition
Virality, SEO, and word-of-mouth growth this idea or task unlocks.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by expected new-signup lift.
Reach
Breadth of adoption — how many users or accounts this touches.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by share of the user base affected.
Upgrades
Projected additional annual recurring revenue from plan upgrades or expansion.
Scored 0–1–2–4–8 by expected ARR impact.
Front-end
UI build time — components, states, client logic.
Scored in person-weeks.
Back-end
API, data model, and infrastructure time.
Scored in person-weeks.
UX/UI design
Research, flows, and visual design time before a line of code ships.
Scored in person-weeks.
Six growth drivers sum into a value number; three effort drivers sum into a real cost in person-weeks. Divide one by the other, and every idea or task — onboarding polish or a quarter-long integration — lands on the same ranked list.
Ducalis computes the score live as your team fills in each field, no spreadsheet required.
┌─ GROWTH SCORE · CALCULATOR ────────────────────────┐ │ Activation 8 │ │ Delight 4 │ │ Retention 4 │ │ Acquisition 1 │ │ Reach 2 │ │ Upgrades 1 │ │ │ │Front-end2 wk│ │Back-end1 wk│ │UX/UI design1 wk│ │ │ │ Score = (8+4+4+1+2+1) / (2+1+1) = 5.0 │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Once every idea or task carries a Growth Score, the self-serve backlog sorts itself — onboarding fixes, empty-state polish, and billing-page work all compete on the same scale as the loud feature request.
┌─ BACKLOG · RANKED BY GROWTH SCORE ─────────────────┐ │ "In-app checklist for first-run setup" 5.0 · #1 │ │ "Contextual empty-state tooltips" 3.7 · #2 │ │ "Redesign billing page"1.0 · #3│ │ │ │ ▸ re-ranks live as inputs change │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Three ideas, six growth inputs plus three effort inputs each, one ranked list — this is what a Ducalis-Framework-scored backlog looks like in practice.
| Idea / Task | Activation | Delight | Retention | Acquisition | Reach | Upgrades | Effort (wk) | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-app checklist for first-run setup | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5.0 | #1 |
| Contextual empty-state tooltips | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3.7 | #2 |
| Redesign billing page | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1.0 | #3 |
The Ducalis Framework is a built-in framework — no setup, no custom fields to wire up. Open a board, pick it, and start scoring your self-serve growth backlog against Activation, Delight, Retention, Acquisition, Reach, and Upgrades.
Prefer RICE, HEART, AARRR, or your own criteria? Switch frameworks anytime — the same backlog carries over.
┌─ SCORE THIS IDEA / TASK ───────────────────────────┐ │ "In-app checklist for first-run setup" │ │ │ │ Activation [ 8 ] │ │ Delight [ 4 ] │ │ Retention [ 4 ] │ │ Acquisition [ 1 ] │ │ Reach [ 2 ] │ │ Upgrades [ 1 ] │ │ Front-end / Back-end / UX[2/1/1]│ │ │ │ ▸ Growth Score 5.0 · auto-computed │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The Ducalis Framework fits anywhere a self-service product team weighs onboarding, retention, and monetization work against a louder feature request — here's where it shows up most.
┌─ ONBOARDING BACKLOG ─────────────────────┐ │ First-run setup checklist 5.0 │ │ Contextual empty-state tooltips 3.7 │ │ Redesign billing page1.0│ │ │ │ ▸ top of list = next sprint │ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ TEAM SCORING SESSION ───────────────────┐ │ Growth Activation 8 · Reach 2 │ │ Eng Front-end 2 · Back-end 1 │ │ │ │ Consensus score → 5.0 │ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ QUARTERLY GROWTH ROADMAP ───────────────┐ │ Top 20% by Growth Score │ │ auto-promoted to roadmap │ │ │ │ ▸ rest stay visible, not lost │ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ IDEA #58 → SCORE 5.0 ───────────────────┐ │ "Add setup checklist to onboarding" │ │ 73 upvotes folded into Activation │ │ │ │ ▸ scored, ranked, ready │ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
Ducalis helps B2B SaaS teams capture self-serve feedback, weigh growth impact against real engineering cost, and prioritize the backlog with the Ducalis Framework — or any framework your team prefers.
No credit card required. Unlimited users. No time limit.
┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ ACTIVATION + DELIGHT │ │ + RETENTION + ACQUISITION │ │ + REACH + UPGRADES │ │ ÷ FE + BE + UX = SCORE │ └──────────────────────────────────┘