Wednesday, October 23, 2024

When to sacrifice design for speed in product management

When to sacrifice design for speed in product management

Prioritization

The war between design and speed is probably as old as product management itself (believe it or not, product management has been a thing since the 1930s!) We’ve all been there, staring at a looming deadline, a backlog of features, and a team that’s burning out — often, not just figuratively — and you start questioning the scope of the actual project. Which things are worth trimming, compromising on, or simply cutting off entirely in favor of speed?

How much MVP is too MVP?

Things will always need to be compromised on, especially as we start understanding the cost of delay. I’m all for moving fast, as long as fast does not start compromising actual quality and value. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with the term MVP. On one hand, it allows you to test assumptions and gather user feedback without over-investing. On the other, if your MVP is too “minimal,” it might not provide enough value to your users, rendering any feedback moot.

That is, unfortunately, where most product building goes wrong. We tend to take the “minimal” a bit too seriously, compromising value far too much. It’s really time to drop the notion of move fast and break things, especially when that results in subpar products and features that provide no actual value and are just there to satisfy some HiPPO’s shiny object syndrome.

When it comes to product management, “minimal” can mean vastly different things depending on your environment. In a continuous discovery environment, you’re enhancing an existing product with established user expectations. Users are accustomed to a particular level of quality and functionality. In this context, releasing a feature that’s too stripped-down can disappoint users and potentially harm your product’s reputation. Here, “minimal” still needs to meet a baseline of usability and value.

On the flip side, in new product management—especially when you’re taking a product from zero to one—the landscape is different. You’re operating without an established user base, and your primary goal is to validate your core value proposition as quickly as possible. Sometimes, that means sacrificing the most obvious features or polish to move forward with speed. However, even in this setting, if your MVP doesn’t provide enough value to engage users meaningfully, you’ll end up with little to no useful feedback.

MVP image

When to prioritize speed over design

Before deciding how much to invest in design and development, it’s crucial to assess whether your feature is a speculative experiment or a well-supported enhancement. It comes down to making informed choices based on the level of risk involved and the nature of what you’re building.

If your feature is a speculative experiment based on untested assumptions or minimal data, it might make sense to develop a lean version to test the waters. In such cases, speed can trump polish because you’re primarily seeking to validate whether the idea holds any weight at all. Releasing quickly allows you to gather feedback and make data-informed decisions moving forward. However, even in this scenario, ensure that your product delivers enough value to engage users meaningfully; otherwise, you risk collecting irrelevant or misleading feedback.

On the other hand, if you’ve gathered substantial user feedback or market data supporting the feature, skimping on design could backfire. Users might have expectations that, if not met, could lead to disappointment or distrust in your product.

One effective way to strike the right balance is to focus on the core user behaviours you want users to adopt, modify, or change—that is, the essential steps users take to achieve the core value your product promises. Prioritize design work that directly impacts this critical path, ensuring that the most important user interactions are smooth and intuitive. Design considerations outside of this path can be deferred or given a lower priority. This approach will allow you to to spend your development time on the most impactful areas. This will help prevent the temptation to cut essential design corners that could compromise the user experience where it matters most.

Adopting a data-informed approach

To make informed decisions about design and speed, it’s essential to ground your choices in data rather than assumptions.

In a 0-to-1 setting where data might be scarce, lean heavily on qualitative methods like:

  • Customer advisory boards: Engage with a small group of users to gather insights.

  • Beta testers and early adopters: Release early versions to a select audience willing to provide feedback.

  • User interviews: Conduct deep-dive conversations to understand needs and validate assumptions.

According to the ‘Rule of 5’ from ‘Sprint’ by Google Ventures, patterns often emerge after interviewing just five users, providing valuable insights without extensive time investment. These conversations can help you test assumptions, understand user needs, and make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts.

In continuous product discovery, you have more data at your disposal. Centralize the voice of the customer by tapping into various sources:

  • Sales feedback: Understand pain points and desires expressed during the sales process.

  • Customer support tickets: Identify recurring issues or feature requests.

  • Product analytics: Analyze user behavior to see which features are being used and how.

  • Continuous interviewing: Adopt continuous discovery habits to keep a pulse on user needs.

Evaluating risk

There are several great frameworks out there to help you evaluate potential risk. Other than cost of delay, I really like Marty Cagan’s risk framework, as it focuses on 4 key dimensions:

  1. Value risk: Will customers actually buy or use this?

  2. Usability risk: Can users figure out how to use it?

  3. Feasibility risk: Can we build it with the time, skills, and technology we have?

  4. Business viability risk: Does this solution work for our business?

If the primary risks are feasibility and business viability—meaning you’re confident in the value and usability—you might proceed without extensive design involvement to move quickly. However, if there’s significant value or usability risk, involving designers is crucial. Skipping design in these areas can lead to products that users don’t want or can’t use effectively, resulting in wasted effort and potential damage to your brand.

evaluate risk

Avoiding the “release and forget” mindset

It’s important to recognize that sometimes critical design work gets overlooked if not addressed promptly. Teams often move on to the next item that will help them reach their OKRs, often forgetting to revisit earlier features. This “release and forget” mindset can leave your product riddled with “sticky tape” solutions that were meant to be temporary.

Revisiting and optimizing your product around value and design once there is proof of value is essential. Don’t let initial compromises become permanent fixtures. Schedule time to enhance areas outside the critical path once the core experience is solidified. This ensures that your product continues to evolve and improve, providing a better experience for your users over time.

Remember to always build for value

Always keep in mind the problem you’re trying to solve. Sending a feature straight to development without a solid understanding of user needs is risky. Even when moving fast, keeping the user’s problem at the forefront ensures you’re building something valuable. Sacrificing design should never mean compromising the core user experience. Poor design can lead to confusion, frustration, and ultimately, user churn.

Here are a few tips to always keep in mind:

  • Incremental design: Implement design improvements in iterations. Release a functional version first, then refine based on user feedback. This allows you to move quickly while still prioritizing user experience over time.

  • Design sprints: Use focused periods to tackle design challenges rapidly. Design sprints enable your team to explore solutions, prototype, and test ideas in a condensed timeframe without extensive delays.

  • Design systems: Establishing a design system can speed up the process by providing reusable components, ensuring consistency without the need to start from scratch each time.

  • Cross-functional collaboration: Involve designers early, even if their time is limited. Their input can prevent costly rework later and ensure that user experience isn’t compromised. Collaborative efforts between product managers, designers, and developers can lead to more cohesive and user-centered products.

  • Continuous product discovery: Engage in ongoing user research to stay attuned to your customers’ needs and preferences. A proactive approach ensures you’re always aligned with user expectations, so you to balance speed and design more effectively.

And of course, do not forget to include your product marketer early and often. The launch does not begin when the feature is built and is ready to go to market, but when you first decided to solve the problem. Trying to cut corners on both the development and the go to market will just result in disaster. Trust me, I know.

Conclusion

Before you decide to cut corners, ask yourself:

  • What are we risking by moving fast?

  • Will this harm the user experience?

  • Are there ways to maintain design integrity while accelerating development?

Finding the right balance ensures you have the ability to move quickly and deliver real value to your users. After all, a product that reaches the market swiftly but fails to meet user needs isn’t a win—it’s a missed opportunity.

Always remember to pause. Take a breath. Weigh the risks, consult your data, and most importantly, keep your users at the heart of your decisions. That’s how you find the sweet spot between speed and design. Deadlines are often self-imposed (well, unless until the commercial team comes around knocking 🙈)


🚀 At BizNest, we are helping product teams transform their discovery processes to innovate and excel. Join our waiting list to learn how we can partner with you on this exciting journey.

Andrea Saez

Effortlessly adopt continuous product discovery.

Discover key opportunities and ship better solutions faster, with BizNest.

Effortlessly adopt continuous product discovery.

Discover key opportunities and ship better solutions faster, with BizNest.

Biznest.io

BizNest makes your product discovery continuous and new opportunities endless

© 2024 Follow Your Fire Ltd

Biznest.io

BizNest makes your product discovery continuous and new opportunities endless

© 2024 Follow Your Fire Ltd