Overview
A Score field prioritizes ideas by weighing their impact against their cost (effort). You choose which fields count as impact and which count as cost, give each a weight, and Canny combines them into a single number you can use to sort your ideas. A higher score means more impact for less effort.
You set scores up as a Score field on the Ideas dashboard. See Scores and formulas in Canny Ideas for how to build one.
The formula
Each field in a Score is designated as either an impact factor or a cost factor, and each has a weight. Canny multiplies every field's value by its weight, sums each side, and divides impact by cost.
Here's an example:
Impact:
Revenue impact = 8, weight 3 → 8 × 3 = 24
Users = 40, weight 1 → 40 × 1 = 40
Total impact = 24 + 40 = 64
Cost:
Dev effort = 5, weight 2 → 5 × 2 = 10
Total effort = 10
Score = 64 ÷ 10 = 6.4
If "Dev effort" were left unset, cost would be 0, so the score would be the raw impact sum of 64.
impact = Σ (weight × value) for all impact fields
cost = Σ (weight × value) for all cost fields
score = impact ÷ cost
How values are read
A few details determine what each field contributes to its side of the sum:
Checkboxes count as 1 when checked and 0 when unchecked.
Unset or non-numeric values count as 0. A field with no value doesn't get excluded from the math; it contributes 0 to its side's sum.
If the cost side totals 0 (for example, no cost fields are set), Canny skips the division and the score is just the raw impact sum. This avoids dividing by zero.
Impact factors vs cost factors
Impact factors quantify the upside of building an idea. Common examples: potential revenue from Opportunities, number of users from key segments, existing MRR, or insight counts.
Cost factors quantify the effort or investment required. Common examples: developer time, monetary cost, or design effort.
Any numeric field can be used on either side. You control the weight of each so the score reflects how your team actually prioritizes. For a step-by-step guide to building scores and formulas, see Scores and formulas in Canny Ideas.
Using a legacy version of Canny?
Canny Ideas is now the default experience. The legacy internal roadmap uses a different, normalized formula, so if you're prioritizing on the roadmap rather than with an Ideas Score field, this is the math that applies.
On the roadmap, every impact and effort factor is first normalized to a 0-100 scale. Canny combines the impact factors and divides by their total weights (ignoring percentage factors), multiplies any percentage factors together and applies that to the total impact, multiplies by 1000 for readability, then divides by the total effort. The result is an integer between 0 and 100,000, though the vast majority of scores land between 0 and 1000.
Roadmap impact factor types
0-10: integers 0 to 10. Normalized to 0-100 by being squared.
0-100: numbers between 0.0 and 100.0. No normalization needed.
Fibonacci: integers 0 to 233. Normalized by being divided by 2.33.
Stars: 0 to 5. Normalized by being doubled and then squared.
Checkbox: checked or not. Normalized to either 0 or 100.
Percentage: integers 0 to 100. No normalization needed.
Votes: based on the number of votes on the post. Normalized by dividing by the roadmap's highest post score.
Roadmap effort types
1-10: integers 1 to 10. Normalized to 1-100 by being squared.
1-100: numbers between 0.1 and 100.0. No normalization needed.
Fibonacci: integers 1 to 233. Normalized by being divided by 2.33.
Stars: 1 to 5. Normalized by being doubled and then squared.