Building it.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE STARTING
What it must do What it need not do What it must cost to produce When it must be ready Who it is for
WHY WHAT IT NEED NOT DO
Scope is what determines whether it is ever finished.
WHAT TO DEFINE
The minimum that solves the problem.
WHY
Additional features delay launch and frequently go unused.
WHAT TO RESIST
Adding capability during development.
WHY
It is the commonest reason products are late and over budget.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
A process for deciding what is included.
WHAT TO BUILD FIRST
The part that is most uncertain.
WHY
If it cannot be done, everything else was wasted.
WHAT TO TEST CONTINUOUSLY
With real users, on real problems.
WHY
Assumptions are corrected cheaply early and expensively late.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT COST
What it will cost to produce at volume, not as a prototype.
WHY
Prototype cost bears no relation to production cost.
WHAT TO CONSIDER DURING DESIGN
Materials and their availability Manufacturability Maintenance and repair Packaging and transport Disposal
WHY AVAILABILITY
Designs depending on materials you cannot reliably obtain are unproducible.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
That inputs can be sourced consistently.
WHAT TO DOCUMENT
Specifications, decisions and their reasoning.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Who decides when it is finished.
WHY
Development without a defined endpoint continues indefinitely.
