Better Product Managers, and Product Management

“Good Enough” vs. “Good Enough Never Is”

May 27th, 2010


Currently loving “good enough” via @cindyalvarez and “good enough never is” (@matthewemay re: Elegance)… Now, erm, how to reconcile them?less than a minute ago via webMike Deutsch
mdeutschmtl

I started my career as a designer, so I find a particular irony in now being a vocal proponent of scrappy, get-it-done, ‘quick and dirty’ approaches.

But here’s how I reconcile it: “good enough” is not an acceptable end.  It’s a means to an end.  “Good enough” enables the pursuit of excellence.

I don’t know which workflow or messaging or feature is going to strike that perfect satisfaction within the user.  And neither do you.  (And don’t give me that ‘genius design’ argument – you are not Steve Jobs, and neither is anyone else except Steve Jobs.)

There are things in my recently released product which make me cringe.
There are things in my recently released product which make our customers cringe.

They are not the same things.

If I spent more time tweaking and revising, I would be happier.  But odds are, my customers wouldn’t.

So we start with “good enough”, and we watch and we learn.  And that’s how we know where to focus our tweaks or our ‘aw hell, scrap this whole thing and do it over’ attention.  And we do it again, and again, and again.  Good enough never is.. for long.

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  • http://topsy.com/trackback?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2&url=http://www.cindyalvarez.com/design/good-enough-vs-good-enough-never-is Tweets that mention » “Good Enough” vs. “Good Enough Never Is” The Experience is the Product | Better product management and products — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by cindyalvarez, Laura Klein. Laura Klein said: RT @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence. New blog post: http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ #leanstartup [...]

  • http://twitter.com/thorbs thorbjørn andersen

    Love this post, my thoughts exactly

  • http://illiotross.wordpress.com Elliot Ross

    My personal take on the definition of Good Enough is; “adequate for the current circumstances”. Don’t think that by “Good Enough” that I am implying a “set it and forget it” mentality on any business process or tool. That just leads to wasted dollars and time. A decision that was either declined or acted upon was valid only during the current circumstances of that decision. The current circumstances now will be different. What was good enough then, may no longer be good enough now, and will most likely not be good enough next year.

    “Good Enough” is better than paralysis and inaction from trying to get to “perfect”

  • http://twitter.com/cindyalvarez cindyalvarez

    “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence. New blog post: http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ #leanstartup

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/cavemandrawings cavemandrawings

    RT @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ #leanstartup

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/KentBeck KentBeck

    RT @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end, it’s a means. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ — strive for “good enough to learn”

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/rundmcollie rundmcollie

    RT @KentBeck: RT @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end, it’s a means. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ — strive for “good enough to …

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/mikisetlur mikisetlur

    “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence: http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ /via @cindyalvarez:

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/johndmitchell johndmitchell

    RT @KentBeck @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end, it’s a means. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ — strive for “good enough to learn”

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/ferreira_hugo ferreira_hugo

    RT @KentBeck, @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end, it’s a means. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ — strive for “good enough to learn”

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/_imagiNATION_ _imagiNATION_

    “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ #leanstartup #excellence

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/lsc_news lsc_news

    RT @_imagiNATION_: “good enough” is not an acceptable end. It’s a means, ENABLING pursuit of excellence. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ #leanstart …

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/Jamzz Jamzz

    RT @KentBeck: RT @cindyalvarez: “good enough” is not an acceptable end, it’s a means. http://bit.ly/9iHRmQ — strive for “good enough to …

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • http://twitter.com/thorbs thorbs

    RE: @cindyalvarez Love this post, my thoughts exactly http://disq.us/do0bz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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