The Upside of Feature Creep: How to Manage It Effectively

What comes to mind when you hear the term, “feature creep?” Do you picture it as an enemy to thwart and avoid at all costs? If the idea of feature creep makes you feel tense, you’re not alone. For quite some time, the term has had a negative connotation in the industry. 

The conventional definition of feature creep is from the waterfall days of software development. It’s defined as adding excessive features to a product that dilute the value of the minimal viable product (MVP) . And while that may have made sense in pre-Artificial Intelligence (AI) days, it doesn’t work now. Kathryn Rosaaen, Sr. Manager of Product Management at 3Pillar offers a more contemporary stance, defining feature creep as “an invitation to reassess the mix and depth of features that will solve our user’s problem the best.” 

But it’s time to see feature creep in a whole new light. Feature creep doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, it can be to the benefit of your MVP engagement if managed correctly. 

Today, sources of feature creep come from input from stakeholders (sales, legal, editorial, etc.), user experience (UX) research, demos, changing competitive landscape, market shifts, and AI. The bad rap of feature creep makes sense when you consider that left unchecked, feature creep can lead to feature bloat and a less-than-effective MVP. 

However, managing scope in a rigid fashion isn’t effective in the context of:

• Agile principles emphasize iterative development and allow for the incorporation of feedback as well as the adjustment of features based on emerging information.
• The basic premise of MVPs, meaning an MVP is not a final product, but rather something designed to be tested and improved. 
• New ideas and insights are emerging at a rapid pace thanks to data analysis and trend recognition through AI. If Meta had decided to adhere tightly to the idea that feature creep must be avoided, they would have never created Stories, which wiped out Snapchat as a major competitor. Taking down Snapchat meant scrapping the app, Slingshot, and doubling down on the Stories format. 
• The reality of uncertainty and learning is that the sooner the MVP is in the hands of users, the faster we can learn and adapt. 

On the topic of uncertainty and learning, the fact is we operate in ever-changing environments with new learnings from users, stakeholders, and clients. Yet we still have to ship what we believe is our closest approach to product-market fit. How do you manage both of these truths?

The key here is to manage new information and optimize the benefits of these new insights without distracting your Agile development team in the process. The secret? Embracing new insights but triaging them well. 

In other words, plan for these new learnings. “Be intentional and strategic when selecting features. The fewer you have, the more room you have to go deep on each feature and address unknowns.  “Within the product organization department at 3Pillar, we discuss the extreme prioritization and evolution of a feature. This thinking enables product leaders and stakeholders to adopt a mindset allowing for controlled expansion as we learn more,” says Kathryn.

To build in learning, take an evolutionary approach to features. Start with a base, see how users are using it, and add on iteratively. Miro can be a great tool for showing stakeholders the evolution of a feature. 

Kathryn also recommends having a project plan. And while that term might sound “waterfall,” remember that MVPs have specific start and end dates. Agile teams can have well thought-out plans and having a notional plan with timelines can encourage the mindset of “Yes, we can accept this new feature based on learnings, yet what are we going to remove in order to stay in timeline and budget?” Simply asking that question can focus the team on delivering only the most valuable suite of features in the MVP vs. simply expanding feature set, timeline and budget.

What does this look like in action? 3Pillar users project plans and themed release plans to keep things on track. Keeping the team aware of the criticality of time while building MVPs is important. “After all, the longer it takes to launch, the more the competition, market, and users will change,” notes Kathryn. “So, what you identified to build six months ago may very well be irrelevant if you take a year to launch.”

As the second prong of this dual approach, work to get everyone ideating and thinking in the same direction – from marketing and sales to legal and editorial. It’s essential to understand that the first version of an MVP often does not achieve product market fit so time to market is critical. 

Take an experimental mindset to:

• Product vision
• Product strategy
• Target user persons
• User research
• Cross-divisional ideation sessions
• Who you won’t build for
• Problems you won’t solve

It’s about establishing a sense of shared ownership and understanding of the opportunities and risks that MVPs provide. As Luis Martinez, Senior Director, Enterprise Product Development at 3Pillar, says, “Coordinated alignment across the entire organization can help ensure that when you’re ready to launch, all aspects of the organization are ready to launch alongside you. Corporate communications is talking to the press, sales people are talking to their clients, regulatory issues are taken care of so there are no last minute ‘gotchas.’”

Above all, ensure alignment between the project manager (PM) and engineering leader. This is the ultimate partnership; if this relationship is fractured, you won’t be able to achieve much. You don’t want people to get different stories from your PM or engineering leader. 

To triage feedback, set up a repeatable process and align your team around this process. This also helps to ensure the team sees that not every request has to be addressed. As a result, they’ll likely be more relaxed and eager to evaluate and ideate on how to apply new learnings. As you build the process, include the following:

• Intake
• Evaluation
• Prioritization framework (Weave in the question: “Would you delay a launch or revenue by a month for this feature?”
• Data-informed decision making
• Post-MVP parking lot (This is where thresholds work well e.g., if we hit X users, we will dive deeper into this feature)
• Stakeholder communication and consistency

Don’t forget the performance of your team. A high-performing team makes a difference as MVPs move fast for sustained periods of time. Lean on senior talent and people who have experience launching MVPs, as it requires teams to have a different mindset, using different techniques than sustained development on a product that has already achieved product market fit. 

This is especially true when building an MVP for an AI-enabled product. Kathryn explains, “Because of the criticality of getting the model right, the variable nature of AI products, the relative lack of industry UX research to lean on and the costs at scale, the foundations for MVP success backed by an experimental mindset become even more important.” With AI-enabled products, make sure you’re solving a very precise need for a well-defined target user. That allows the team to focus on building a model that works vs. getting distracted with multiple secondary features.  Kathryn likes to tell her teams  “fewer features done well.”  Time to market (getting a quality, tested, and working model out there) takes on a more prominent role. The ability to quickly adjust based on user perception/data/feedback through frameworks like dual track Agile is imperative. Senior team members with deep experience in MVP development will understand the importance of this mindset and supporting tactics especially with MVPs for AI. 

And, remember: be realistic. As Kathryn says, “Some things you’ll have to add in and some things you’ll have to do without. That’s life – embrace it and move onwards!” That experimental mindset goes a long way with working with new ideas that can push your MVP forward and bring you closer to delivering a real solution to your users’ problems.

At 3Pillar, we can help your team get on the same page, get aligned, and effectively embrace new ideas through our digital product engineering services. Learn more about how we can help you iterate your way to product-market fit.