Alex RaineyAlex is an experienced CTO and founder who largely focuses on all the technical areas of My AskAI, from AI Engineering, Technical Product Management and overall Platform Development.
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Jul 15, 2024 11:44 AM
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Feb 1, 2024
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As a Founder, I've Always Struggled with Prioritising Development Time for "Polishing" a Product
Think:
- UI inconsistencies
- Padding improvements
- Minor copy updates
- UI/API error states
None of these are needed for product-market fit. None of these will help you get to PMF. And none will move the needle on any metrics you care about.
So the rational part of my brain says, "until we have encouraging PMF, why bother with this stuff?"
But then I think about new products that I try on the web, with small defects, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies. The impact of these things accumulate and compound.
The standard people have for software nowadays is extremely high. Of course, they're willing to accept certain issues if your product provides a lot of value. But if they're in a rush, or comparing you with competitors, then a slicker product that requires the user to think less will win.
So How Do We Balance This Work That Won't Have a Measurable Impact, but Is a Kind of "Debt" That Must Be Cleared Occasionally?
- We dedicate 1 day a month to "polish".
- It's a single backlog ticket or wiki page that anyone can add ideas to.
- Every item must be built & tested in <30 mins.
The surprising thing? It's deeply satisfying work, and when you next use your own product, you'll "feel" those changes.
Written by
Alex Rainey
Alex is an experienced CTO and founder who largely focuses on all the technical areas of My AskAI, from AI Engineering, Technical Product Management and overall Platform Development.
