Below Water Level

I’ve written lately about the amount of waste in software, with failed products being the prominent reason behind much waste.

But heres the counter-intuitive thing about it. If product failure was all there was to it, it’s actually quite alright. As leaders we take into account chances of failure and delays in returns on the investment. What’s more, theres a psychological quirk that makes us OK with product failure.

After its whirlwind and emotional roller-coaster ride, a failed product provides some closure to everyone. And there are manageable ways to cut-over from one product to another or one investment to another. The success rate is still crap, we have certainly lost money, but outright failure is something that can be visible, and if its visible, it can be managed and we can overcome the sunk costs over time.

It is the invisible danger that’s more problematic. By invisible, I mean all the features that rarely ever get used in a product. Research has shown that 80% of features in a product don’t get used. These are the zombie features in a product, barely living, barely dying, cannot be killed.

Zombie features or products might on the surface appear like one off costs, just like failed products. But the reality is that features once they are in the product amplify the ROI erosion, through training costs for those features, maintenance of website pages and marketing material, customer support queries and KBs, engg tech debt, and even management attention to make sure everything else coming up in the product works with those 80%.

These 80% features are white elephants, tying up money and killing agility. These zombie features are the massive invisible cost…the danger that lurks below water level.