Let’s get some more advice about getting things done and now I wanna post about how to get more productivity by drawwing your “red lines”

Draw your red lines

Within politics the phrase “red line” refers to a point beyond which a party will not negotiate. They may be willing to give and take on some items, but on these items there is no budging. In the same way within product design, once you’ve agreed on a minimum viable product (MVP), be disciplined about maintaining your project’s ‘red line’.

Scope creep happens to the best of us. Just ‘one more thing’ can snowball a small project into a massively complex project. Combat this by using an iterative design approach to release small little items into your product. This will allow you to test your assumptions, gather feedback, and maintain project momentum.

In order to do this though, you’ll need to roughly map out your iterations. These aren’t set in stone. They’re waypoints on your journey of building a product as a team. Every next step in the journey gives you a chance to re-evaluate what you’ve done and where you’re going. Before you begin the next step, finalize its scope by identifying which small, manageable tasks you’ll work on within a release cycle.

It’s tempting to add along the way, but even small additions can have large repercussions. Saying ‘No’ to an idea today doesn’t mean you’re saying ‘No’ forever. Maybe it’ll be the next thing you’ll work on. Maybe you’ll get feedback during your current iteration that makes your new idea irrelevant. The point is to maintain your red lines. Keep your steps small. Publish, test, and iterate.