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Stevey's Blog Rants: Business Requirements are Bullshit

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Saved by 18 people (-2 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-08-12


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Some CEO emailed me the other day. I don't remember who it was; people mail me all the time about their blah blah yawn product service thingy, and on the rare occasions I bother to read mail from strangers, I don't usually remember anything about the email, even if I respond to it. I can remember broad categories of questions I get, but everything else is just a blur. That's senility for ya.

Highlighted by rahulvohra

Ideally the product you're building for yourself should be simple to describe, so that other people can quickly evaluate whether they, too, want this thing. It's often called the "elevator pitch",

Highlighted by mavrik

You can almost always make a product better by trimming the requirements list. We're talking brutal triage: throwing out stuff that's really painful to lose, such as the ability to change the battery.

Highlighted by mavrik

When you're trimming the business requirements, then you're exhibiting healthy project behavior. This contrasts directly with gathering requirements, which has both the connotation that you're clueless about the product and the connotation that you're inflating the requirements list in direct conflict with schedule, usability and fashion. Trimming: good. Gathering: bad.

Highlighted by mavrik

Who was it who said that you're done writing not when there's nothing left to add, but when there's nothing left to take away?

Highlighted by arrix_

Who was it who said that you're done writing not when there's nothing left to add, but when there's nothing left to take away?

Highlighted by arrix_

You don't need an original idea to be successful. You really don't. You just need to make something that people want. Even if someone else appears to be making something popular, it's usually possible to improve on the idea and grab market share. And it's painfully counterintuitive at times, but the best improvements often come from simplifying.

Highlighted by mavrik

The easiest way to build a product that kicks ass is to start with someone else's great idea (camcorders, for instance), and take stuff away.

Highlighted by mavrik

It's easy to come up with new product ideas if you start with the understanding that everything sucks. There are no completely solved problems.

Highlighted by mavrik

Everything can stand improvement. Just think about what you'd change if you were doing it for yourself, and everything should start falling into place.

Highlighted by mavrik

We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button, which we pressed for you before it left the factory.

Highlighted by arrix_

We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button, which we pressed for you before it left the factory.

Highlighted by arrix_

We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button, which we pressed for you before it left the factory.

Highlighted by davidmiller

In this case, the fundamental marketing force that the company failed to take into account was fashion. People don't often think of mountain biking (or programming, for that matter) as a fashion industry, but failing to understand the role of fashion is a recipe for random disasters.

Highlighted by mavrik

In any event, originality is overrated. Coming up with something completely original isn't just hard to do: it's also hard to sell, because investors (and possibly customers) will need to be educated on what this new thing is and why people would want it. And when it comes to buying stuff, nobody likes to be educated. If the product isn't immediately obvious, investors and customers will pass it up.

Highlighted by davidmiller

Fashion is generally hard to predict, but it usually means "sacrificing comfort or convenience for the sake of style". Take another look at the iPod: it has almost no features. It doesn't have an "off" button. Heck, you can't even change the battery. Not exactly convenient in many ways. But it sure has style!

Highlighted by mavrik

If you don't already know exactly what to build, then you're in the wrong business. At the very least, you should hire someone who does know. Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.

Highlighted by mavrik

If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by mavrik

Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.

Highlighted by arrix_

Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.

Highlighted by arrix_

If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by arrix_

f you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by arrix_

If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by arrix_

If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by arrix_

If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.

Highlighted by arrix_