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Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

mixpanel.com

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Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#21

Post by jka »

benjaminjackman wrote: post #3

> Even after features or products are deemed to have little to no value, teams keep them around for ages instead of responsibly removing them. The most common argument we hear is, “This [small subset] customer [sic] regularly uses the feature and we’ll lose out, if we remove it.” Instead of associating unshipping with the traditional ‘What do we lose?‘ perspective, let’s reframe to a ‘What do we gain?‘ perspective. A…

That's a useful perspective: let's say 3% of a service's userbase really loves an obscure feature (they rate it highly), but at the scale of the business, it doesn't make sense to support that feature within the core product.

That seems like an indicator that there could be a viable business around that single feature. But can that business exist if the larger company's product doesn't provide interfaces that allow peer products to interoperate?

(I wouldn't call those "plugins" or "API integrations" -- those make it seem like there is one "primary" product and one vendor who creates a smaller, secondary component. in the Unix philosophy, any two tools can combine without the need for any clear priority of roles)

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#22

Post by pc86 »

tsjq wrote: post #5
benjaminjackman wrote: post #3

> Even after features or products are deemed to have little to no value, teams keep them around for ages instead of responsibly removing them. The most common argument we hear is, “This [small subset] customer [sic] regularly uses the feature and we’ll lose out, if we remove it.” Instead of associating unshipping with the traditional ‘What do we lose?‘ perspective, let’s reframe to a ‘What do we gain?‘ perspective. A…

reminds me of Python3

How?

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#23

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

drewg123 wrote: post #13

Somewhat orthogonal to the story, but in the intro they talk about adding features and say: " Imagine the internal ‘pat on the backs’ and recognition that occurred when Gmail fully launched dark mode for the mobile app,[...] or Apple announced their M1 chip " How is implementing dark mode even remotely comparable to launching a new general purpose CPU and transitioning an entire product line from one CPU to another??…

Apparently for today's developers, yes. Used to be users could arbitrarily change their own colors and fonts, now having 2 whole choices takes a team of developers months of work.

Our industry is pathetic.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#24

Post by birdman3131 »

reaperducer wrote: post #16
benjaminjackman wrote: post #3

> Even after features or products are deemed to have little to no value, teams keep them around for ages instead of responsibly removing them. The most common argument we hear is, “This [small subset] customer [sic] regularly uses the feature and we’ll lose out, if we remove it.” Instead of associating unshipping with the traditional ‘What do we lose?‘ perspective, let’s reframe to a ‘What do we gain?‘ perspective. A…

as a user it's not fun having a feature I am using disappear because I am part of only a small group using it Apple is really bad at this with Siri. One example: For what feels like a couple of years, almost every night I'd lay on the floor and play with the cat. Occasionally I'd call out, "Hey, Siri, where is my wife?" And Siri would reply something like "She is 8.3 miles away." This was how I could tell when my wif…

Google is the same way. I have smart lights and my phone will insist on unlocking to change them whereas the home mini will just turn them on and off. But the mini does not always hear.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#26

Post by pc86 »

drewg123 wrote: post #13

Somewhat orthogonal to the story, but in the intro they talk about adding features and say: " Imagine the internal ‘pat on the backs’ and recognition that occurred when Gmail fully launched dark mode for the mobile app,[...] or Apple announced their M1 chip " How is implementing dark mode even remotely comparable to launching a new general purpose CPU and transitioning an entire product line from one CPU to another??…

Nowhere do they imply that they're at all comparable. They're not comparing them to each other. They're comparing them to eliminating comparable features.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#27

Post by UglyToad »

benjaminjackman wrote: post #3

> Even after features or products are deemed to have little to no value, teams keep them around for ages instead of responsibly removing them. The most common argument we hear is, “This [small subset] customer [sic] regularly uses the feature and we’ll lose out, if we remove it.” Instead of associating unshipping with the traditional ‘What do we lose?‘ perspective, let’s reframe to a ‘What do we gain?‘ perspective. A…

I think this (original quote) is why I regard an organisation being "metrics driven" and associated working process as a bad sign.

Reducing a development team's understanding of their target market to "line goes up" underlies a lot of the harms arising from modern software.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#28

Post by cultofmetatron »

psychomugs wrote: post #9

Leica is a very unique camera company in that they can get away with removing features (screens, the ability to shoot in color) while charging more .

yea seriously... you can by a brand new fully mechanical leica with manual everything for $5k.

for that price, you can buy a nikon 6ii and 2-3 top of the line lenses.

I understand that there's a leica "look" that people love but you can do that with a combination of raw file processing an d lens calibration for substantially less.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#29

Post by psychomugs »

cultofmetatron wrote: post #28
psychomugs wrote: post #9

Leica is a very unique camera company in that they can get away with removing features (screens, the ability to shoot in color) while charging more .

yea seriously... you can by a brand new fully mechanical leica with manual everything for $5k. for that price, you can buy a nikon 6ii and 2-3 top of the line lenses. I understand that there's a leica "look" that people love but you can do that with a combination of raw file processing an d lens calibration for substantially less.

I own a film Leica (M2). I also own the top-tier Fujis from 2017 (X-Pro2, X-T2, X100F).

The Good Old Leica Bullshit is, to me, a process-over-product feeling. I don't care as much about comparing the result of Tri-X@1600 to Fuji's (excellent) film simulations. I care much more about 1) using something with absolutely no electronics in it, 2) having to wait to see the results and thus divorcing myself from the moment, 3) knowing that, with proper care, this 60-year old camera will likely outlive me.

Re: Upsides to unshipping: The art of removing features and products

#30

Post by psychomugs »

formerly_proven wrote: post #14
psychomugs wrote: post #9

Leica is a very unique camera company in that they can get away with removing features (screens, the ability to shoot in color) while charging more .

B/W sensors have very real upsides over a color sensor if you want a B/W image.

Yes, but for many, even enthusiasts, that's a very steep tradeoff.
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