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Ask HN: How to decide if feature request is worth implementing?

3 points by apogosian ↗ HN
Hi HN, I'm a developer at an early-stage startup.

One of our users requested a feature and it took about 3 weeks to implement, but later we found out that they don't really use that new feature. It was more of a 'nice to have' to them rather than necessary. So we basically wasted three weeks, which is kinda demoralizing. I thought 'make users happy' makes sense, but in this case it was a waste of time.

When a user requests a feature, how do you decide if it's really worth implementing?

1 comment

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mtmail
Bootstrapped startup here. Our default response is that the feature is on our roadmap but lower position. If they're willing to upgrade to a higher plan or pay extra because they need it urgently we can move it up. I think 1 out of 50 ever paid. Some start arguing why they need the feature, that's good, that shows us it's more than 'nice to have' for them. In (very) small companies you need to say 'no' to a lot of requests not to get distracted.