- Explicitly define the one-point vision for your app. What does your app stand for? What's it really all about? Before you start designing or coding anything you need to know the purpose of your product — the vision. Think big. Why does it exist? What makes it different than other similar products?
- Work from large to small. Don't worry about the size of your headline font in week one. You don't need to nail that perfect shade of green in week two. You don't need to move that "submit" button three pixels to the right in week three. Just get the stuff on the page for now. Then use it. Make sure it works. Later on you can adjust and perfect it.
- Find the core market for your application and focus solely on that. (37Signals calls this "Hiring the Right Customer.") The customer is not always right. The truth is you have to sort out who's right and who's wrong for your app. The good news is that the internet makes finding the right people easier than ever. If you try to please everyone, you won't please anyone.
- Scale later. You don't have a scaling problem yet. If you've got a huge number of people overloading your system, then great — that's a nice problem to have. The truth is the overwhelming majority of web apps are never going to reach that stage. And even if you do start to get overloaded it's usually not an all-or-nothing issue. You'll have time to adjust and respond to the problem. Plus, you'll have more real-world data and benchmarks after you launch which you can use to figure out the areas that need to be addressed.
- Build half a product, not a half-ass product. Beware of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to web app development. Throw in every decent idea that comes along and you'll just wind up with a half-assed version of your product. What you really want to do is build half a product that kicks ass. Stick to what's truly essential. Good ideas can be tabled. Take whatever you think your product should be and cut it in half.Pare features down until you're left with only the most essential ones. Then do it again.
- Essentials only. Our favorite answer to the "why didn't you do this or why didn't you do that?" question is always: "Because it just doesn't matter." That statement embodies what makes a product great. Figuring out what matters and leaving out the rest.
- Start with no. Each time you say yes to a feature, you're adopting a child. You have to take your baby through a whole chain of events (e.g. design, implementation, testing, etc.). And once that feature's out there, you're stuck with it... Make each feature work hard to be implemented. Make each feature prove itself and show that it's a survivor. It's like "Fight Club." You should only consider features if they're willing to stand on the porch for three days waiting to be let in. That's why you start with no. Every new feature request that comes to us — or from us — meets a no. We listen but don't act. The initial response is "not now." If a request for a feature keeps coming back, that's when we know it's time to take a deeper look. Then, and only then, do we start considering the feature for real.
- Expose the price of new features. For example, be on the lookout for feature loops (i.e. features that lead to more features).
- Avoid preferences. Preferences are a way to avoid making tough decisions. Instead of using your expertise to choose the best path, you're leaving it in the hands of customers. It may seem like you're doing them a favor but you're just making busy work for them (and it's likely they're busy enough). For customers, preference screens with an endless amount of options are a headache, not a blessing. Customers shouldn't have to think about every nitty gritty detail — don't put that burden on them when it should be your responsibility.
- Ask people what they don't want. Most software surveys and research questions are centered around what people want in a product. "What feature do you think is missing?" "If you could add just one thing, what would it be?" "What would make this product more useful for you?" What about the other side of the coin? Why not ask people what they don't want? "If you could remove one feature, what would it be?" "What don't you use?" "What gets in your way the most?" More isn't the answer. Sometimes the biggest favor you can do for customers is to leave something out.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
How to get your software-development priorities right
I've been spending some time reading the 37Signals book Getting Real. It has a lot of common-sense advice for keeping development projects on track. Here's a sampling of some bullet-points that I found particularly worthwhile:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Love this posting Kas! Truer words could not be spoken. Keep it up!
ReplyDelete"Ask people what they don't want". Very nice idea, since people probably don't know what they want anyway.
ReplyDeleteAsking the reverse might give a good idea what not to focus on.
I must be thankful for sharing your ideas.Thank you for the good writeup.its a brelient job.please visit here for more detail:
ReplyDeletePackers And Movers Bangalore charges
Packers and Movers Pune Provide High Quality ***Household Shifting, Home/Office Relocation, Insurance, Packing, Locading, ###Car Transportation Service Pune and High experiences, Top Rated, Safe and Reliable, Best and Secure Packers and Movers Pune Team List. Get? ?? Affordable Rate Charts and Compare Quotation and Save Money and Time. @ Packers And Movers Pune
ReplyDeleteThe Cheap Writing Services you receive come along with a plagiarism report for verification that our work is totally authentic and original.we ensure that you have an outstanding experience with us as we provide you with Top Essay Writing Services and other writing needs.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThanks for an awesome article!
Packers and Movers in Bangalore
Packers and Movers in Bellandur
Packers and Movers in Hebbal
Packers and Movers in Alwal
Best blog i have ever seen, thankyou for sharing the article!!
ReplyDeletePackers and Movers in Bangalore
packers and movers in BTM Layout
packers and movers in banashankari
packers and movers in marathahalli
Packers and Movers in Koramangala
Packers and Movers in Madiwala
Packers and Movers in Shivaji Nagar
Packers and Movers in Vijay Nagar
Packers and Movers in Hebbal
Thanks for sharing this wonderful article
ReplyDeletePackers and Movers in jayanagar
Packers and Movers in yeshwanthpur
Packers and Movers indiranagar
Packers and Movers in alwal"
Packers and Movers in yelahanka
Packers and Movers bommanahalli
Loved this article! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletePackers and Movers Bangalore
Packers and Movers in banashankari
Packers and Movers in bommanahalli
Packers and Movers domlur
Packers and Movers in yelahanka
Loved this article! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletepackers and movers in Bommanahalli
packers and movers in Jayanagar
packers and movers in Yelahanka
packers and movers in Malleshwaram
packers and movers in Vijayanagar
ReplyDeleteNice blog post for reading and Thanks for sharing the wonderful article
No1 Packers and Movers Bangalore
Top and certified Packers and Movers in Banashankari
Affordable and certified Packers and Movers in Bommanahalli
Best and verified Packers and Movers Domlur
No1 Packers and Movers Vijayanagar
Best and cheap Packers and Movers ramamurthynagar
Nice blog post for reading and Thanks for sharing the wonderful article
ReplyDeleteNo1 Packers and Movers Koramangala
Top Packers and Movers in madiwala
Affordable Packers and Movers in Marathahalli
Best Packers and Movers shivajinagar
Thanks for sharing this wonderful article
ReplyDeleteBest Packers and Movers in India
Packers and Movers in Pune
Packers and Movers in Mumbai
Packers and Movers in Chennai"
Packers and Movers in Delhi
Loved your blog, thankyou for sharing this article!!
ReplyDeletepackers and movers in Belgaum
packers and movers in Bhiwandi
packers and movers in Amritsar
packers and movers in Dehradun
Nice blog post for reading and Thanks for sharing the wonderful article
ReplyDeleteVerified Packers and Movers in Pune
Top Packers and Movers in Hadapsar Pune
Affordable Packers and Movers in Pimple Saudagar
Best Packers and Movers Baner
Verified Packers and Movers Shivaji Nagar Pune
Top Packers and Movers in Viman Nagar
cyber security companies
ReplyDeleteTop VCISO Provider
information security consultants
information security audit
security penetration testing consultants
Loved this article! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteTop cyber security companies in delhi ncr
Cyber security expert in delhi ncr
cyber security expert
vapt
VCISO