Software is a curated collection of ideas, benefits and features

I credit Jason Fried, of 37 Signals fame, for this clever statement on software development.

I really enjoyed Jason's presentation at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo as he hit upon several of the issues we face at RIGHTSLEEVE as we roll out various web software features internally and externally.

 

One of the biggest challenges we face is feature creep and the desire to include every little request we get from our clients to improve a component of the merchandise store technology we provide.

This also impacts our internal development as it relates to our CRM/VRM engine that powers our business. After years of design, it's often the simple features that stick, while the complex features die a quiet death. For example, we developed a Facebook style news feed to highlight the important selling and production activities in our company - I am not sure where we would be without it. Ironically, this feature was an afterthought.

We have a graveyard of nifty features that made sense in theory, but never worked in reality.

Having said this, software development is a process of trial and error .... and signal vs noise. Without the noise (ie. the attempts, brainstorm sessions, blue sky ideas) there would be no signals (ie. the simple "Aha" features that just work). It's improving the ratio between the hits and misses that's key.

As Fried says, it's our job to be the curator by collecting the best ideas while sifting out the rest.