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What is Getting Real?
- A smaller, faster, better way to build software
About 37signals
- Our small team creates simple, focused software
Caveats, disclaimers, and other preemptive strikes
- Responses to some complaints we hear
Build Less
- Underdo your competition
What’s Your Problem?
- Build software for yourself
Fund Yourself
- Outside money is plan B
Fix Time and Budget, Flex Scope
- Launch on time and on budget
Have an Enemy
- Pick a fight
It Shouldn’t be a Chore
- Your passion — or lack of — will shine through
Less Mass
- The leaner you are, the easier it is to change
Lower Your Cost of Change
- Stay flexible by reducing obstacles to change
The Three Musketeers
- Use a team of three for version 1.0
Embrace Constraints
- Let limitations guide you to creative solutions
Be Yourself
- Differentiate yourself from bigger companies by being personal and friendly
What’s the big idea?
- Explicitly define the one-point vision for your app
Ignore Details Early On
- Work from large to small
It’s a Problem When It’s a Problem
- Don’t waste time on problems you don’t have yet
Hire the Right Customers
- Find the core market for your application and focus solely on them
Scale Later
- You don’t have a scaling problem yet
Make Opinionated Software
- Your app should take sides
Half, Not Half-Assed
- Build half a product, not a half-ass product
It Just Doesn’t Matter
- Essentials only
Start With No
- Make features work hard to be implemented
Hidden Costs
- Expose the price of new features
Can You Handle It?
- Build something you can manage
Human Solutions
- Build software for general concepts and encourage people to create their own solutions
Forget Feature Requests
- Let your customers remind you what’s important
Hold the Mayo
- Ask people what they don’t want
Race to Running Software
- Get something real up and running quickly
Rinse and Repeat
- Work in iterations
From Idea to Implementation
- Go from brainstorm to sketches to HTML to coding
Avoid Preferences
- Decide the little details so your customers don’t have to
“Done!”
- Decisions are temporary so make the call and move on
Test in the Wild
- Test your app via real world usage
Shrink Your Time
- Break it down
Unity
- Don’t split into silos
Alone Time
- People need uninterrupted time to get things done
Meetings Are Toxic
- Don’t have meetings
Seek and Celebrate Small Victories
- Release something today
Hire Less and Hire Later
- Add slow to go fast
Kick the Tires
- Work with prospective employees on a test-basis first
Actions, Not Words
- Judge potential tech hires on open source contributions
Get Well Rounded Individuals
- Go for quick learning generalists over ingrained specialists
You Can’t Fake Enthusiasm
- Go for happy and average over frustrated and great
Wordsmiths
- Hire good writers
Interface First
- Design the interface before you start programming
Epicenter Design
- Start from the core of the page and build outward
Three State Solution
- Design for regular, blank, and error states
The Blank Slate
- Set expectations with a thoughtful first-run experience
Get Defensive
- Design for when things go wrong
Context Over Consistency
- What makes sense here may not make sense there
Copywriting is Interface Design
- Every letter matters
One Interface
- Incorporate admin functions into the public interface
Less Software
- Keep your code as simple as possible
Optimize for Happiness
- Choose tools that keep your team excited and motivated
Code Speaks
- Listen when your code pushes back
Manage Debt
- Pay off your code and design “bills”
Open Doors
- Get data out into the world via RSS, APIs, etc.
There’s Nothing Functional about a Functional Spec
- Don’t write a functional specifications document
Don’t Do Dead Documents
- Eliminate unnecessary paperwork
Tell Me a Quick Story
- Write stories, not details
Use Real Words
- Insert actual text instead of lorem ipsum
Personify Your Product
- What is your product’s personality type?
Free Samples
- Give something away for free
Easy On, Easy Off
- Make signup and cancellation a painless process
Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids
- Avoid long-term contracts, sign-up fees, etc.
A Softer Bullet
- Soften the blow of bad news with advance notice and grandfather clauses
Hollywood Launch
- Go from teaser to preview to launch
A Powerful Promo Site
- Build an ace promotional site that introduces people to your product
Ride the Blog Wave
- Blogging can be more effective than advertising (and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper)
Solicit Early
- Get advance buzz and signups going ASAP
Promote Through Education
- Share your knowledge with the world
Feature Food
- They’re hungry for it so serve it up
Track Your Logs
- Study your logs to track buzz
Inline Upsell
- Promote upgrade opportunities inside the app
Name Hook
- Give your app a name that’s easy to remember
Feel The Pain
- Tear down the walls between support and development
Zero Training
- Use inline help and FAQs so your product doesn’t require a manual or training
Answer Quick
- Quick turnaround time on support queries should be a top priority
Tough Love -Be willing to say no to your customers
In Fine Forum
- Use forums or chat to let customers help each other
Publicize Your Screwups
- Get bad news out there and out of the way
One Month Tuneup
- Issue a major update 30 days after launch
Keep the Posts Coming
- Show your product is alive by keeping an ongoing product development blog post-launch
Better, Not Beta
- Don’t use “beta” as a scapegoat
All Bugs Are Not Created Equal
- Prioritize your bugs (and even ignore some of them)
Ride Out the Storm
- Wait until knee-jerk reactions to changes die down before taking action
Keep Up With the Joneses
- Subscribe to news feeds about your competitors
Beware the Bloat Monster
- More mature doesn’t have to mean more complicated
Go With the Flow
- Be open to new paths and changes in direction
Start Your Engines
- A few closing thoughts