Product development - where do you stop?

[CTXMedia]

I've never done any product development or released any software or anything like that, but just found myself wondering - with all the possibilites, and suggestions, and wish-lists, etc. - where do you stop with, say, version 1.0?

When is it enough for initial release? What decides version 2 or the bits in between?

Just interested in how such things are planned and worked at, as I assume there has to be at least some structure to it or you've never actually get anything finished and out-the-door?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Paul B]

Here's a useful thread related to this very subject: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/best-practice-product-version-numbering.6398/

Something from Kier specifically related to XenForo: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/beta-3-beta-4-rc1.6896/page-5#post-108813

Essentially though, once a produce has been released as Beta, in theory there shouldn't be any new (major) features or functionality as the primary purpose of a Beta phase is to iron out any bugs so it can be released as a stable version.

 

[feldon30]

You best bet is to plan out what you want your software to do and get some feedback. There is a lot of fortune cookie advice for programming like 'Small is good' and 'Do one thing well'. It's worth reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy but take all things with moderation, including moderation.

Software that grows organically by bolting on features as requested usually ends up in a state that requires a 'do over' somewhere down the road. You end up with a product that's so heavy, you feel you need to start over. Before you do, you'll want to read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-system_effect

 

[steven s]

-snip- There is a lot of fortune cookie advice for programming like 'Small is good' and 'Do one thing well'. -snip-

XenForo

-snip- Software that grows organically by bolting on features as requested usually ends up in a state that requires a 'do over' somewhere down the road. You end up with a product that's so heavy, you feel you need to start over. -snip-

vB4

 

[Anthony Parsons]

That's exactly it... growth is actually counter-productive with software. Its not an effective strategy and will also pinnicle and slide negatively.

Growth in software is best achieved by creating a version, fine tuning it, then leave it alone. You then build additions to plugin to the product vs. constantly adding to the core itself. This is where you continue to make money, without creating a product that becomes so cumbersome and full of issues that you need to rewrite.

A rebuild then can be achieved when technology itself shifts that dramatically that you can warrant a complete rebuild. HTML5 and OOP is sufficient IMHO to warrant a complete rebuild of forum software.

Its the same with what we all see here now... the entire idea of XF is to be light, fast, clean, very Web 2.0. If you continually add to it, then you are going to create an end result that was not your original mission statement, nor was it where you wanted to be heading.

Original product solutions is the key to continued growth in forum software IMHO, not constant core additions.