Member-only story
Design principle: KISS the Feature creep
This will be the first post of series of articles I will be writing on design principles. The idea is to share my perspective on timeless design principles that can be applicable across many mediums and contexts. It is aimed mainly at new designers and designers like me who tend to forget this stuff, and need a refresher.
I have to admit the headline is a bit misleading for the sake of being more interesting. Please forgive me! :)
Lets get started with the two design principles: Feature creep and KISS.
The danger of feature creep
Most of the time continuous addition of new product features beyond the original scope usually results in cost and schedule overruns. If that happens, you’ve let the feature creep sneak on you!
Sometimes features are easy to add especially in software/web development. You can think of feature creep as cancer for software applications. It accumulates too many features that end up crippling or even sometimes killing the end product.
Feature creep appears when stakeholders start thinking they know what’s best for the user. Yes! That’s without actually communicating with the user.
If anything, just remember. More is not better! Except sometimes.
Adding continuously features will add unnecessary complexity. Unnecessary complexity will add unnecessary costs(money and time).
How to deal with the feature creep?
Watch out for small features that can easily sneak in and stay. Feature creep is a mean ninja! It is hard to detect, it blends so well with the environment and can hurt your product real bad.
When adding features, always test them with real users. Features must be linked to customers needs. Educate everyone around you about the feature creep.
