Daily Tips & Tricks for Web Enthusiasts

Users Can’t Have an Experience Until You Ship

Until you release what you’re working on the only person who can benefit from it is you, and you’re probably not benefiting very much because you haven’t released what you’re working on yet!

A painting no one can see is a painting that will inspire no one. A song no one can hear is a song that cannot bring a smile to anyone’s face. A website no one can visit has no impact.

So when should you ship?

As a general rule of thumb you should ship sooner rather than later. As a more concrete rule, ask yourself this question on a regular basis:

If I shipped today, would most of my target audience have a good experience?

If the answer is yes, it’s time to ship.

Note the word good in that question. I chose that word very carefully. I very purposefully did not choose words like great, outstanding, phenomenal, incredible, magnificent, or other grandiose terms alluding to some state at or near perfection. If any of those words apply, you’ve taken too long to ship.

If you have something that will provide a good experience to most people, trying to push it further beyond good is generally a poor use of your time and resources. When you release something good people will experience it, poke it, prod it, react to it, and give you feedback about it. The knowledge you gain from shipping will allow you to go from good to great much faster and much more easily than if you tried to do so on your own.

So, if you shipped your thing today, would most of your target audience have a good experience?