Shrink Your Scope, Not Your Standards: The Power of Half, Not Half-Assed

A group of university friends decided to build a campus events app. Their original wishlist had 12 features, including maps, RSVP, social networking, custom avatars, and more. As weeks rolled by, they found themselves overwhelmed, frustrated, and still nowhere near done.

Frustrated, one of them proposed a radical shift: what if they only built the core—just events listings and RSVPs—forgetting the rest? At first, the idea seemed too simple, but out of desperation, they accepted. In just one week, they finished, released it, and sat back.

To their surprise, hundreds of students signed up within days. They used the app daily because, simply put, it solved the main problem of finding and signing up for events. A few students started asking for extras, but the team noticed most requests focused on making navigation smoother, not for more features. Armed with real feedback, they shaped the next update around actual needs.

By focusing resources, they avoided dilution, delivered a rock-solid experience, and learned something vital: excellence in essentials beats weakly delivered abundance every time. Product development research calls this the “minimum lovable product” approach, proving time and again that depth trumps breadth when trying to win loyalty and deliver value.

Cut your workload or feature list by half, and channel your energy into making what remains truly great. Use feedback from first users as your guide to what’s genuinely missing. Don’t try to win by size—win by quality, and let excellence spread your reputation.