Start Small & Stay Lean

Start Small. Stay Lean

No product released is ever complete. This concept is going to be a challenge for the perfectionists but stay with me.

The purpose of any product you create or build is to help your customer achieve a specific goal. There are many obstacles the customer must overcome along their journey to achieve this goal.

It is easy to get carried away planning all the features and content you can create to make the best product.

While it is good to think big picture, starting small and staying lean will help you to build the product your customers need.

What does it mean to start small and stay lean?

Start by visualizing each of the obstacles your customer must overcome to reach their goal. List them out on a Kaban board or draw them out as a journey map.

Each obstacle provides an opportunity to create a win for your customer. The little victories that your customers experience get them excited and keep them motivated to continue on the journey with you.

Your first version of your product release should provide a clear path to overcome only the first obstacle giving your customer that quick win to push them forward.

As your product gains traction and you gather feedback, take that information, and continue to build a product that your customers love and will help them succeed.

As you plan your next product or launch, evaluate how you do the least amount of work that provides the highest impact.

A lesson learned from building crap that nobody needs

How can you make something simple enough to give your customers the little victories they need to succeed all while building an awesome product?

Start Small & Stay Lean pic.twitter.com/fGHEiRN6GU

- Nick Jensen (@ncklrs) January 6, 2021

Originally published at https://www.nickjensen.co on January 6, 2021.

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Founder of Maker Ops and CTO of a Fortune 5000 company that enjoys talking about the outdoors, running, coding, and building products.

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Nick Jensen

Founder of Maker Ops and CTO of a Fortune 5000 company that enjoys talking about the outdoors, running, coding, and building products.