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On Removing Features
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 01:45 pmBlog post on the importance of removing features: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/02/02/removing-features/
I found this via the Twitter of one of Posterous's founders.
In a nutshell, the pictures of the Swiss Army Knives in the pics really say it all. The problem with a bajillion features is that you need the resources to keep updating all of those features so they stay competitive and the resources to support them. Having many features also makes the software/app/website more difficult and confusing to use. Also, being spread over many niches means being potentially vulnerable to competitors who are specializing in one niche. (Kind of like evolution, I suppose).
Also, if this is left unchecked, things develop in the direction of removal becoming gradually and gradually less possible:
"If you leave features in your application just because half a dozen people actually use them, you’ll end up with Microsoft Word. Most people only use a small percentage of all features in Word. Unfortunately, most people use a different small percentage of all features in Word. Even the most unpopular, most broken feature is used by somebody. "
I found this via the Twitter of one of Posterous's founders.
In a nutshell, the pictures of the Swiss Army Knives in the pics really say it all. The problem with a bajillion features is that you need the resources to keep updating all of those features so they stay competitive and the resources to support them. Having many features also makes the software/app/website more difficult and confusing to use. Also, being spread over many niches means being potentially vulnerable to competitors who are specializing in one niche. (Kind of like evolution, I suppose).
Also, if this is left unchecked, things develop in the direction of removal becoming gradually and gradually less possible:
"If you leave features in your application just because half a dozen people actually use them, you’ll end up with Microsoft Word. Most people only use a small percentage of all features in Word. Unfortunately, most people use a different small percentage of all features in Word. Even the most unpopular, most broken feature is used by somebody. "
