Thank you for the response. You have asked a crucial question which pinpoints the exact tension:
We want to avoid perfectionism, but we also care about quality and don't want to disappoint anyone.
You asked for a "measuring stick." I think the most effective measure is simply whether the product is useful.
Here are three questions I ask my team to consider when we need to decide if something is ready to be released (while we continue to improve it):
1) Does it solve 80% of the core problem?
Even if it's not pretty or feature-complete, does it actually do the main thing it promises? If yes, it's good enough to release.
2) Is the cost of waiting higher than the cost of an imperfection?
It can help to ask: "Is the value we are withholding from people by not releasing this, greater than the annoyance of not perfectly polished product?" Often, people would rather have an imperfect solution now than a perfect one never. Especially, if it's not a hardware product (car, phone, other one-time purchases) and is a service (software, membership, cafe, other repeat transactions) where continuous improvement is the norm.
3) Can we learn more from releasing it than from polishing it?
At a certain point, we hit a wall where we're just guessing what people want. Releasing it right now turns those guesses into real data. If we need feedback to make the next meaningful improvement, it's time to ship it.
We don't need to think of our release as a "final exam" but as the start of a conversation with our customers to build trust and loyalty over time.
Essentially, we are inviting them into a process of continuous improvement -- collaborating with them to shape our product.
Thank you for the response. You have asked a crucial question which pinpoints the exact tension:
We want to avoid perfectionism, but we also care about quality and don't want to disappoint anyone.
You asked for a "measuring stick." I think the most effective measure is simply whether the product is useful.
Here are three questions I ask my team to consider when we need to decide if something is ready to be released (while we continue to improve it):
1) Does it solve 80% of the core problem?
Even if it's not pretty or feature-complete, does it actually do the main thing it promises? If yes, it's good enough to release.
2) Is the cost of waiting higher than the cost of an imperfection?
It can help to ask: "Is the value we are withholding from people by not releasing this, greater than the annoyance of not perfectly polished product?" Often, people would rather have an imperfect solution now than a perfect one never. Especially, if it's not a hardware product (car, phone, other one-time purchases) and is a service (software, membership, cafe, other repeat transactions) where continuous improvement is the norm.
3) Can we learn more from releasing it than from polishing it?
At a certain point, we hit a wall where we're just guessing what people want. Releasing it right now turns those guesses into real data. If we need feedback to make the next meaningful improvement, it's time to ship it.
We don't need to think of our release as a "final exam" but as the start of a conversation with our customers to build trust and loyalty over time.
Essentially, we are inviting them into a process of continuous improvement -- collaborating with them to shape our product.
Does that help?