# Make the business case for paying down technical debt

A plain-language case that turns engineering pain into customer and business impact leaders will fund.

- Topic: Product & UX Design
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Plan, Translate, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/make-the-business-case-for-paying-down-technical-debt

## Prompt

```text
Help me make the case for investing roadmap time in technical debt.

**The debt:** [WHAT IT IS, IN ENGINEERING'S WORDS]
**Symptoms we see:** [SLOW DELIVERY, INCIDENTS, BUGS, PERFORMANCE, ONBOARDING TIME FOR ENGINEERS]
**Evidence:** [INCIDENT COUNTS, CYCLE TIME, SUPPORT TICKETS, ESTIMATES INFLATED BY THE DEBT]
**Proposed investment:** [TEAM AND TIME, PHASES]
**What would be delayed:** [ROADMAP ITEMS]
**Audience:** [WHO DECIDES AND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT]

Build the case:
1. Translate the debt into business terms: features that take longer, reliability risk to customers, security or compliance exposure, cost, hiring and morale.
2. Quantify where possible: time lost per sprint, incident cost, delay on specific upcoming features. Show the math and label assumptions.
3. Cost of doing nothing over 6-12 months.
4. Options: full fix, phased fix tied to upcoming features, ongoing allocation (e.g. a share of each sprint), or contain and monitor.
5. How we will show progress: before-and-after metrics.

Return a one-page memo with a clear recommendation, a 5-slide outline for leadership, and answers to the objection "Why can't this wait?"

Use only my evidence; mark gaps [ADD DATA] and assumptions [ASSUMPTION]. Avoid jargon the audience will not know.
```

## What to fill in

- WHAT IT IS, IN ENGINEERING'S WORDS
- TEAM AND TIME, PHASES
- ROADMAP ITEMS
- WHO DECIDES AND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT
- ADD DATA
- ASSUMPTION

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.