Six months ago, I announced that our new product, LiveDataset, would be launched in Q2 2015.
We had a great track record, a clear vision, and even a sonnet… but knew there would be a lot of work to convert the concept of LiveDataset into reality.
Our target was to deliver a product that “is easy-to-use like a spreadsheet, organized for many people like a database”…and we did just that.
I am happy to report that, from today, early adopters will use LiveDataset to gather organized information more efficiently.
This is only the beginning: having covered the fundamentals, we are now in a position to add more powerful features into the product.
But before diving into the next phase I want to share my thoughts on the three key principles that allowed us to hit this initial milestone with a spring in our step.
Not an “internal” Project
When your company is busy creating value to generate revenues from existing clients, the initial development phase of new software can feel like an “internal” project: there is a strong temptation to add extra functionality (newly discovered as “essential”) at the expense of deadlines (“surely a slip in the schedule does not matter if no clients are live yet?”).
From the outset, we have treated LiveDataset as if it were a client project, with:
- Dedicated management and resources
- Clear goals and deadlines
- Separate accounting
- Regular checkpoints and progress reporting
Agile Project Management
As a software house, Krescendo has long embraced the Agile methodology, which favours iterations of analysis and development “sprints”, against “boil the ocean” techniques which often result in “analysis paralysis”.
As a green-grass project, LiveDataset afforded the opportunity for moulding an optimal delivery process. Our product manager, Stuart MacKellar, took this task to heart, delivering incremental value in strictly enforced two-week sprints.
Stuart described his approach in this engaging blog post, reminding us that the summit is reached by taking one step after another.
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
With LiveDataset, we set out to pursue simplicity.
Simplicity: you know it when you see it, but how do you make something “simple”?
For our purpose, we added a simple step to our review processes: the “can we make it simpler?” brainstorming session before handing over a specification to the development team.
There are two key elements at play here:
- Being deliberate about the specific challenge of simplifying
- Having at least two people (with equal powers) play the game
These additional discussions may seem like more effort but are invariably rewarded by less work at later stages.
I am proud of LiveDataset and what we have achieved in six months and I am confident that LiveDataset will make a huge improvement to how our customers gather and organize information.
But I am also confident that by continuously applying these key principles, LiveDataset will keep improving and so will our bespoke projects for clients.