If there is more than one product/feature/idea, ask yourself if they are all needed for launch?

When building your product, it's easy to get caught up in the desire to include every feature and functionality you envisioned from day one. STOP. Take a step back and focus on identifying the core elements that will bring value to your users. What is the foundation upon which everything else rests? Once you've solidified this base offering, you can then LATER add features and bells and whistles that will enhance the user experience. Prioritize what truly matters, that which brings value to your users.

Are you creating a prioritized list of things that need to be done?

When planning your project or product, take the time to create a prioritized task list. This helps you focus on what matters most first and ensures you're spending your time/money in the most effective way.

Start by identifying the key objectives of your project.

Then break them down into smaller, actionable tasks.

Use a ranking system to determine which tasks are most critical and need to be done first. By prioritizing your tasks in this way, you'll be able to tackle the most important ones first and make steady progress towards your objectives. This will help you stay focused, avoid distractions, and ultimately achieve success.

No need for fancy software, starting off with a simple notepad will do.

Have you done any market research to see if there could be any demand for your product?

Understanding your target audience and market is crucial to creating a successful product that resonates with them. Without proper research, it's easy to create something that falls flat or fails to meet user needs. Take a moment to delve into your desired market or industry. Research your competitors, gather insights from potential customers, and analyze the latest trends and challenges. This will help you identify areas where your product can add value and make informed decisions about what features to prioritize. By doing your due diligence on market research, you'll be able to create a product that meets real user needs, rather than trying to fit into a crowded space. You'll also avoid common pitfalls like feature creep (adding things after the fact) or launching with an unsolved problem.

What does your product, idea, feature look like and how does it work?

When designing your product or feature, take this opportunity to get down to business. Sketch out how you envision it coming together, whether it's a napkin doodle or through a fully-fledged design tool. But don't just focus on aesthetics – think about the user experience. Put yourself in their shoes: what do they want to achieve when using your product for the first time? How can you make their journey seamless and intuitive? Avoid making assumptions; instead, design with the assumption that 'natural' usability is key. Consider the user flows: every click, tap, or action has a reaction. What happens when things go right? When they don't? Are there any obstacles to overcome? Are there clear calls-to-action? By answering these questions and keeping your user at the forefront of your design process, you'll create a product that delivers value, feels natural, and engages users from the very start.

How many resources do you have available?

This could be money, time or other individuals. If you are rolling this out on your own, you may be limited on time and money and the use of off the shelf products comes into play here. Example: using something like Shopify for your online store instead of building a custom site, so that you can focus on the actual product you are selling...custom roasted coffee beans :)

Understand that the use of third party services comes with a price, but it may help you get to market faster without investing to much of your time and money for something that may or maynot work.

Are you overthinking the importance of the "cool thing"?

I can't stress this enough, don't waste time on things that won't bring value to the end user.

How will I profit from this?

When it comes to monetizing your product, feature, idea, don't just guess what will work, take the time to understand what your options are. You have different models to make money like monthly or yearly subscrption based pricing, One Time Purchases, Free with micro transactions, Free with micro subscriptions, etc... the sky is the limit here; just make sure you build something worth buying, or worth spending time on.

[Insert question here]

This is not a typo or me not finishing the questions section for this portion. The reality is this: the questions could go on forever and really only get to a stopping point when you feel confident you can take on your vision by creating executable steps. There are a ton of other questions, depending on your industry, you can ask; e.g. funding, permits, security, etc...

Who is the decision maker?

While collaboration is a great thing, at the end of the day you'll need that ONE person who can take in all of the information and make a decision if there is no consensus.

If there is more than 1 person contributing, can they do other work while the top priority is taken?

Use the trickle down effect. If there are 5 people working on this project, put them all on the top priority. If only 2 people are needed move the other 3 over to the next priority. If only one person is needed for that then move the remaining 2 people to the next...you know where I'm going with this.

If the 2 people that were working on the top priority are done, move them to the closest priority below them and see if they can help bring it over the finish line. If that's not possible, let them work their way down until they are picking up the next highest priority that isn't already taken.

Now that you have a set list of things to do, are you adding things in that disrupt the agreed upon order?

This can happen every now and then, but don't make it a habit. This is what we call "scope creep" in the biz. You have your set amount of work and then all of the sudden, someone thinks this other "thing" should be done as well. Now all of the sudden dates are moved (hopefully) because you have to include time to add this new thing thus pushing you away from your original release date.

You've completed some of the work, can you release that to the public now or do you have to wait for another thing to be completed first?

Hold on to it only if it makes sense, otherwise send it out the door and get it in front of people. It's better to release a little bit of something than a whole lot of nothing.

Are you over complicating the process?

Don't add exra steps that are not needed. In fact if there are steps that get in the way more than they help then eliminate them. Scenario: You literally have post-it notes on your desk, and between you and your team, they take a post-it note to work on that item and then move it to the fridge for completed work. IF YOU HAVE A SIMILAR PROCESS THAT WORKS, ALBEIT A LITTLE ODD, THEN GO WITH THAT!