One of my favorite parts of working for a science agency is brainstorming. I love generating ideas—sometimes crazy ideas—for new science projects. But I had this boss that would often say, “Did the customer pay for a BMW or a Ford?” It was almost always the Ford.
Today we talk about feature creep and gold plating.
These terms refer to the tendency of projects to become bloated with unnecessary additions or to focus excessively on refining and perfecting existing features. Feature creep and gold plating can inhibit progress.
Scientists are notorious for thinking outside the box, wandering down rabbit trails, and getting excited about cool new ideas. But if these cool ideas weren’t part of the original project scope, focusing on them may lead to diluted focus, which in turn may lead to extra time and resources that weren’t part of the original plan. Lack of proper project planning is not the only cause of feature creep. Feature creep can be the result of changing customer demands, pressure from stakeholders, or perfectionism.
Customer needs do change from time to time. When this happens, you’ll want to renegotiate the scope and the terms, so that you have the time, money, and other resources to complete the project successfully.
Pressure from stakeholders may be easy to manage if the scope is well documented. Let the stakeholder know that these other great ideas can be part of the next project.
And finally, your own (or your team’s) perfectionism is often the culprit in feature creep. Who doesn’t want to deliver the best possible project or product? You may think that the product will be so much better if you add x, y, or z to it. And it might be. But did you promise a BMW or a Ford? Go back to your original plan and see if x, y, or z is within the scope.
When a great idea hits you after the lab or field work or writing is almost complete, it makes sense to explore it. But save the actual work for the next project. You can collaborate with this customer or client for years to come if you keep thinking up great ideas.
I’d like to expand this idea to academic and other writing—which can be another place that perfectionism comes into play. Each time a report or other piece of work is revised, word count can increase and the main point can be diluted.
Reviewers are priceless, but when reviewers (or team members) add their pet citations and ask you to expand on tangential information, it can inflate the word count without enhancing the clarity or relevance of the work.
Gold plating in this case might be displaying excessive data that is available elsewhere or over explaining. Gold plating may also be overloading a work with facts, figures, and jargon in an effort to convey expertise or impress the reader. The primary objective—to inform and engage the target audience—may be lost in the process.
So, that is feature creep and gold plating in a nutshell. Let those cool ideas flow, but just know whether or not to add the latest feature to the current project or the next one. The next project may just be a BMW.