Sometimes even good ideas need to be killed.
We did this many, many times over the course of this project. Sometimes we were just killing an idea, other times we were throwing out something we’d built.
It takes a great deal of perspective and courage to kill something for the betterment of a product. Even before we came on, this product took on different forms multiple times. It can be frustrating at times, but in the end, if you don’t make difficult cuts the product becomes complex and lacks direction.
Using the product
If you’re spending the bulk of your time looking at sketches or discussing static pages you’re making way too many assumptions. A great product or service works well, it doesn’t just look good. Many UX issues are invisible. They need to be used to be discovered. For this project, mandating usage through posting articles and issuing bugs helped ensure we were using the product.
The whole thing is an amazing read. I love hearing all of the behind-the-scenes genius that goes on behind making a beautiful product. There's just something about watching craftsmen sweat the details that makes you appreciate things more.