Keeping it simple

0dngaamo • 14th Dec 2009 • Software Development • Agile, Product Owner, Project Manager, Software Development

As budgets become tighter and there is increased necessity to complete projects quickly and get products to market as quickly as possible we need to explore new methods and new ways of thinking. Clients/Product Owners will normally have an extensive wishlist either at the start or through a project, and often want everything on that list to be delivered at once. Why? because they think that these features are needed to make their product better than others on the market – it is a valid idea but not always sucessful, and more importantly will take longer to develop and slower to  market.

“Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.”- From the Agile Manifest0

Only do the minum required (no more, no less) release to market, gather your customers feedback, evaluate and then decide your next steps.  For whatever reason we lose sight of what we are really attempting to achieve and think more is better.

“Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.” – From the Agile Manifest0

We have convinced ourselves that our customers want more choices but there is definite evidence that there are a substantial amount of customers who don’t want to have to make more decisions they want less, they want simple. Two companies that are thriving on slim products, that is with really limited features, are 37 Signals who have a selection of simple project management tools that have very focussed features and Redbox who offer new release DVDs only and allow you to pick them up from your local Redbox kiosk. These companies have seen a potential market and identified what is important to the users, then kept a real focus, concentrating on the core features and functionality and releasing to the market a simple and easy to use solution without the distracting frills.

What we need to do as Product Owners and Project Managers is keep focussed on what we are attempting to achieve, doing only what is needed and releasing quickly so success and start bringing in revenue. Here are links to some interesting reading:  37signals book “Getting Real”,  Redbox success story on The Accidental PM Blog