Identifying and eliminating feature creep

Many good ideas fail because of feature creep, not because the original idea was bad. It starts innocently, just one small addition, then another. Soon your simple solution becomes a complex monster nobody understands. Recognizing and stopping creep requires constant vigilance.

The symptoms are clear. Releases slip as "quick additions" pile up. User onboarding becomes a tutorial nightmare. Performance degrades under features few use. The core value proposition gets buried under bells and whistles. Your elegant solution becomes enterprise software.

Fighting creep requires discipline. Every feature request must pass the same prioritization rigor as initial planning. Ask whether it serves your core user or tries to please everyone. Remember that saying no protects the experience for users who chose your product for its focus.^[1]