- 80% of the people use 20% of the features. So you convince yourself that you only need to implement 20% of the features, and you can still sell 80% as many copies. Unfortunately, it’s never the same 20%. Everybody uses a different set of features.
- 20% products is an excellent bootstrapping strategy because you can create them with limited resources and build an audience.
- What works for bootstrapping will not work as a good long term strategy, because there’s very little to prevent the next two-person startup from cloning your simple app, and because eventually you can’t fight human nature: “The people want the features,”
- nothing we have ever done at Fog Creek has increased our revenue more than releasing a new version with more features.
- When we tried Google ads, when we implemented various affiliate schemes, or when an article about FogBugz appears in the press, we could barely see the effect on the bottom line. When a new version comes out with new features, we see a sudden, undeniable, substantial, and permanent increase in revenue
- If you think simplicity means “not very many features” or “does one thing and does it well,” then I applaud your integrity but you can’t go that far with a product that deliberately leaves features out.
Should I remove a feature used by only 0.1% of traffics?
- In theory all users could be affected by the removed features. The 0.1% and 99.9% are not complements.
- “Which percent contains the value of the product?”, because that might be the most important 0.1%.
- Delete button may be rarely used. But if it is taken out, there will be a lot of support requests.
- Sometimes, it’s not about the feature being used. It’s about the user’s confidence they won’t get stuck, or feel the product is supported adequately, or even, it’s a checkbox on a purchase requirements list.
- People may be just playing most popular games, but they want to browse the comprehensive list.