As a senior engineer, delivering impactful features that truly solve customer needs is both a challenge and a responsibility. It's a process that requires strategic thinking, collaboration, and a deep understanding of user experience. Here's a glimpse into the methodology we should follow:
Ask why: Before diving into development, it's crucial to understand the driving force behind the feature. Gather data on the problem, customer needs, the expected impact, and the desired outcome. This helps align the team's efforts with the core objective. Think before implementation for -
What’s the problem?
What do customers need?
How is the feature expected to solve this?
What do we aim to achieve?
Identify MAVP: Instead of tackling the entire feature at once, we should identify the Minimum Actually Viable Product (MAVP) - the minimal set of functionalities that still delivers real user value. This approach allows us to break down the feature into achievable milestones.
Simplest technical solution: We should strive to find the simplest technical solution that addresses the problem. Sometimes, this involves researching industry best practices or common solutions that could be tailored to our needs. Simplicity is key to efficient development and maintainability.
Break into tasks: Once the technical solution is identified, we should break down the MAVP into clear and manageable tasks. This not only prevents feeling overwhelmed but also facilitates easier code reviews, transparency, and better collaboration within the team.
Feature flagging and rollout: Leveraging feature flags, we can enable the feature for specific user segments across different environments (development, staging, production). This allows for incremental rollouts and controlled testing before a full release.
Validate assumptions and gather feedback: After the first milestone, gathering user feedback and validating assumptions is crucial. If the desired outcome wasn't achieved, we can analyze what went wrong and make necessary adjustments. If it was successful, we identify the contributing factors and build upon them.
Improvements and following milestones: Based on user feedback, we prioritize and implement improvements to the feature, always keeping customer satisfaction at the forefront. Agility is key, and the next milestone is determined by the insights gathered from real users.
This iterative approach not only ensures that we deliver features that truly resonate with our customers but also fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the engineering team.
At the core of successful feature development lies a deep understanding of customer needs, a commitment to simplicity, and a willingness to adapt based on feedback. It's a process that demands collaboration, strategic thinking, and a relentless pursuit of delivering value to our users.