
Attention new products: Focus on your core feature - drm237
http://fliggo.posterous.com/attention-new-products-focus-o
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ALee
This post answers the thread earlier today about what to build, how to plan
for future users, etc.

Again: We at JamLegend call it the minimum valid test. Others call it core
features, but it's what you need to get a prototype to market.

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chrysb
Minimum valid test sounds cooler.

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ashleyw
So how little should you deliver to users as an first release to get the right
balance between getting the great feedback, and not loosing a lot of your
initial users because its too simple for their needs?

You can either launch too early and it doesn't compare with other more mature
services feature wise, or launch too late, and the software is a bit bloated
or another service has got a massive lead by introducing one of your main
features! (or something along those lines)

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savrajsingh
So there are two types of products. Products that are new, never-before-seen
ideas, and products that are big twists or features added to existing
products.

If you are building a new product, build the simplest thing possible to
complete the use case. Don't worry about the fonts or ajax, don't worry about
anything other than 'did we meet our core scenario -- did the user get what
he/she wanted?' And then test this on the user -- does this help you?

If you are building a tweak or revision of some existing thing, go for the
out-there features and see if those actually stick to users. If you are
writing a new blogging platform, for example, it's expected that you'll be
able to add, remove, and edit posts, and you'll have a great RSS feed. Users
will assume you'll have that, and if you don't have it right now, you'll add
it. In this case, build the parts that are truly novel. And then check this
with your users -- is this something they want?

A good example is Zenter (YC startup acquired by google). They didn't build
the "save" feature into their web presentation app until very late because
it's assumed that you can save a presentation -- they instead focused on the
cool stuff that people didn't expect -- collaborating on the web on your
presentation, sharing it live, etc.

The bottom line is, build the minimum form of the unique thing first, and see
if it sticks. Don't worry about being too simple -- your users will let you
know if you don't meet their needs.

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ashleyw
That's very good advice, thanks!

