Disagreements and debate: the crucial elements in great software projects

In the dynamic realm of software development, where agility and innovation are paramount, fostering an environment that encourages debates is not just beneficial—it's indispensable. The idea of debating within a software project may seem counterintuitive to some, as the conventional image of software development often revolves around quiet coding sessions and collaborative problem-solving. However, embracing debates in the development process can lead to a plethora of advantages, from refining ideas and uncovering hidden issues to enhancing team collaboration and achieving superior project outcomes.

Innovation through Divergent Perspectives

One of the primary reasons debates are crucial in software projects is their ability to stimulate innovation. Divergent perspectives, often emerging during heated debates, can catalyze the generation of creative solutions to complex problems. When team members bring unique experiences, insights, and approaches to the table, it opens up avenues for exploring unconventional ideas that could be game-changers. This realization has led to many software leaders actively seeking a diverse software dev team in the hope of inserting divergence in perspectives in team decisions.

Debates force individuals to articulate their thoughts, challenge assumptions, and present evidence in support of their ideas. This process of intellectual rigor helps in refining concepts and ensuring that the final solutions are well-thought-out and robust. Without debates, a team risks falling into the trap of groupthink, where conformity stifles innovation and unconventional ideas are overlooked.

Identification and Mitigation of Risks

Software projects are rife with challenges, and potential risks can lurk beneath the surface. Debates serve as a powerful mechanism for surfacing these risks and addressing them proactively. When team members engage in discussions about project requirements, design choices, or implementation strategies, they are more likely to identify potential pitfalls that might be overlooked in the absence of scrutiny.

By thoroughly debating different aspects of a project, ranging from technical decisions to project timelines, the team can anticipate and mitigate risks early in the development process. This proactive risk management is crucial for ensuring project success and preventing costly errors down the line.

Enhanced Collaboration and Team Dynamics

Debates, when conducted in a constructive manner, contribute to a positive team culture by fostering open communication and collaboration. When team members feel empowered to voice their opinions, it promotes a sense of ownership and engagement. Additionally, debates encourage active listening, as team members must understand and respond to each other's arguments.

Moreover, healthy debates provide an opportunity for team members to learn from one another. As individuals share their knowledge and experiences, it creates a collaborative learning environment where everyone can benefit from the collective wisdom of the team. This learning dynamic not only improves the skill set of individual team members but also contributes to the overall growth and development of the team as a whole. One thing important in this area is the leadership style of the team leads in the software project. If the style of leadership is not open to a multitude of ideas then the benefit of enhanced collaboration breaks down and the debates turn into points of division within the team.

Refinement of Ideas and Decision-Making

In the crucible of debate, ideas are refined, and decisions are thoroughly scrutinized. This process is essential for ensuring that the chosen path is the most effective and well-considered one. Debates force individuals to defend their proposals, encouraging a deeper understanding of the implications and trade-offs associated with different choices.

Through this rigorous examination of ideas, the team can make informed decisions that are more likely to stand up to the challenges of implementation. The act of defending one's position in a debate requires a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter, promoting a culture of informed decision-making within the team.

Continuous Improvement and Adaptability

Debates are not static events but dynamic processes that unfold as projects evolve. In the ever-changing landscape of software development, the ability to adapt and iterate is crucial. Debates contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging teams to revisit decisions, reassess strategies, and incorporate new insights and information as they emerge.

This adaptability is particularly important in agile development environments, where the ability to respond quickly to changing requirements is a key success factor. Embracing debates as a means of continuous improvement ensures that software projects remain agile, resilient, and capable of delivering value even in the face of evolving challenges.

In the fast-paced world of software development, where the only constant is change, the importance of debates cannot be overstated. By fostering innovation, identifying and mitigating risks, enhancing collaboration, refining ideas, and promoting adaptability, debates play a pivotal role in shaping the success of software projects. Teams that actively engage in constructive debates are better positioned to navigate the complexities of development, resulting in superior outcomes and a culture of continuous improvement. In the vibrant ecosystem of software projects, debates are not just discussions—they are catalysts for excellence. We have a joke at Kaz that if only two people agree in a group of many we have a decision! The little comic here says that in Bangla :)

Why should you use an agency to build your software?

In today's fast-paced and highly competitive business environment, companies need to continuously improve their operations and processes to stay ahead. One way to do this is by leveraging technology and software to automate and streamline various functions. However, not all businesses have the in-house expertise or resources to develop and maintain software solutions on their own. This is where software development agencies come in - they offer a range of services to help businesses create, implement and maintain software solutions that meet their specific needs. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of using a software development agency.

Cost-effective

One of the biggest advantages of using a software development agency is cost savings. Hiring and training an in-house team of software developers can be costly, time-consuming, and risky. By outsourcing software development to an agency, businesses can save on salaries, benefits, training, and infrastructure costs. Surveys show the cost-effectiveness of using an agency in low cost software destinations such as Bangladesh but even if you are not going offshore using an agency close to you will bring down your costs by reducing your HR commitments along with the cost of operation.

Expertise and Experience

Software development agencies have a team of experts who have extensive experience in developing software solutions for different industries and use cases. They have worked on various projects and have the necessary skills, knowledge, and tools to create effective solutions quickly and efficiently. They also keep up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in the industry, so businesses can benefit from the latest innovations and advancements. By hiring an agency in essence you are getting access to their entire skillset and expertise on a need basis, a great example is how we help our software customers with a design team when they need to create visualization of their ideas - the design team comes in for a short time to turn the ideas into mockups and specifications that the software team can use as their guide. The cost to the clients is minimal, yet the benefit is a dedicated design and product team that only giant companies can afford.

Faster Time to Market

Software development agencies have streamlined processes and workflows that enable them to develop and deploy software solutions faster than an in-house team. They have experience working on different projects and can quickly adapt to changing requirements and timelines. This means businesses can launch their products or services faster and gain a competitive advantage.

Scalability

A software development agency can scale its resources and expertise based on a business's needs. This means that as a business grows, the agency can provide additional resources and support to meet the increasing demands for software development services. Similarly, if a business needs to downsize or reduce its software development needs, the agency can adjust its resources accordingly.

Focus on Core Competencies

By outsourcing software development to an agency, businesses can focus on their core competencies and strategic initiatives. This means that they can allocate their resources and attention to activities that are critical to their success, such as product development, marketing, sales, and customer service. Software development becomes a supporting function rather than a core competency.

Using a software development agency has many benefits for businesses looking to develop custom software solutions. It can help businesses save on costs, access expertise and experience, launch products faster, scale resources as needed, and focus on core competencies. Businesses should carefully evaluate their software development needs and choose an agency that can meet their requirements, deliver high-quality solutions, and provide ongoing support and maintenance. By doing so, they can reap the benefits of technology and stay ahead of the competition.

Successful Custom Software Development Firm: 10 Insights from Kaz Software

In the dynamic landscape of custom software development, building a successful firm requires a strategic approach and a blend of skills, mindset, and culture. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience, Kaz Software offers invaluable insights to those aspiring to create their mark in the industry. Here's a concise guide, distilled into the top 10 must-haves for a flourishing custom software studio:

1. Diverse Skill Set:

A cornerstone for success is the diversity of skills within your team. Given the varied nature of software projects, spanning from mobile APIs to ecommerce sites, having expertise in multiple technical platforms is crucial. Embrace the unexpected - you never know when a unique skill, like Erlang, might be the key to a successful project.

2. Flexible Mindset:

Embrace a mindset that welcomes change. Teams should see project switches as opportunities to explore new technologies and domains. While a resume with frequent job switches may raise eyebrows, it's essential to delve into the reasons behind these changes to ensure they align with growth and learning.

3. Continuous Training:

Stay ahead of the curve by conducting regular, in-house training sessions on emerging technologies. Anticipating the need for new skills reduces learning curves and positions your team as early adopters.

4. Double the Systems Team:

In the realm of custom software, development environments and servers are ever-evolving. Prepare for this unpredictability by hiring double the number of systems professionals you think you'll need. This ensures your team can swiftly set up local cloud environments for new projects.

5. Practical Work-machine Setup:

Opt for good specification clone machines or if you are going for laptops then high-end gaming laptops and treat them as servers. Clones are easier to reset and start afresh, a practical approach for the fast-paced nature of custom software projects.

6. Versatile Designers:

Designers should be jacks-of-all-trades, proficient in various design workflows. From wireframing in the morning to coding in the evening, a versatile designer is an asset in a field where project requirements are diverse and dynamic.

7. Agile Facilities Team:

In a custom software company, flexibility in team and workspace arrangements is the norm. Establish an efficient facilities team or process to ensure smooth transitions between workspaces, minimizing downtime.

8. Prioritize Accounting:

Set up your accounting system and invoice processes before hiring your first developer. Neglecting this foundational aspect can lead to chaos as your business grows.

9. Business Development Expertise:

Recognize the importance of a dedicated business development role. In the custom software game, having a professional solely focused on keeping projects in the pipeline is a game-changer.

10. Nurture a Positive Culture:

Culture is the glue that holds a custom software development team together. Foster a work culture that thrives on innovation, pushing teams to deliver excellence consistently.

In conclusion, venturing into the world of custom software development is both exhilarating and challenging. Kaz Software's insights serve as a compass, guiding aspiring firms toward success in an ever-evolving industry. Remember, it's not just about the code; it's about creating a culture that breeds innovation and excellence. Best of luck on your exciting journey!

Outsource with confidence: 7 Essential Practices for Software Development Success

In the fast-paced realm of technology, the decision to outsource software development can be a game-changer for your business. Whether you're brimming with a brilliant app idea or seeking to revamp your existing one, outsourcing can provide the expertise and bandwidth you need without the hassle of managing an in-house development team. Bangladesh, where we are based is a major hub for outsourced software development projects, and there are really good reasons to outsource here. So over the past 20 years of working with companies from all over the world, we’ve picked up some good tips and tricks about how best to run an outsourced software project. Before embarking on the quest for the perfect development partner, it's crucial to familiarize yourself with the best practices that can shape a successful outsourcing journey. Here are seven key principles to guide you through the process:

1. Define Your Reasons for Outsourcing

Before diving into the outsourcing pool, introspect on the reasons driving your decision. Ask yourself, "Do I really need to outsource?" Clearly identify the factors pushing you towards this choice and create a reference list. This introspection will serve as a compass, steering you through the outsourcing process, and aiding decision-making. Ensure that your project is suitable for outsourcing, particularly when specialized expertise, additional support, or time constraints are significant factors. A great read along these lines is this post about finding the right balance for outsourcing parts of your software projects.

2. Choose the Right Partner

Selecting a reliable outsourcing partner is paramount to the success of your project. Look for a company with a stellar reputation and a proven track record of delivering results. While peer recommendations and reviews are invaluable, delve deeper into compatibility. Assess whether the partner's work culture aligns with yours, and if their working hours and communication methods suit your preferences.

3. Look Beyond Cost

While cost efficiency is a driving force behind outsourcing decisions, it should never be the sole consideration. Prioritize the quality of the end product during the selection process. Ensuring that you receive a high-quality solution is essential, even if it means investing a bit more upfront.

4. Thoroughly Scope Your Project

A detailed project scope is the cornerstone of successful outsourcing. Use this as a trial project if you're in doubt about a potential partner. Provide a comprehensive project scope to align everyone's expectations and establish a procedure for handling additional work outside the initial scope. Prevent project delays caused by incessant feature additions and requests.

5. Establish Robust Communication Channels

Effective communication is the backbone of any successful outsourcing venture. Implement strong communication channels to facilitate seamless interaction with the development team. While multiple channels like Slack, email, messengers, Skype, telephone, screensharing tools, and issue trackers may be available, designate a primary channel for efficiency and clarity.

6. Stay Actively Involved

Outsourcing doesn't imply a hands-off approach. Stay engaged with the development process by checking in on progress regularly. Understand the team's requirements for resources and provide necessary input to keep the project on track. Take ownership of the process for optimal results.

7. Embrace Task Management Tools

Regardless of your project's scale or complexity, task management is non-negotiable. Implement a project management or task management system to monitor development progress. This helps you track tasks, understand the pace of development, and identify potential roadblocks in collaboration with your outsourcing partner.

Outsourcing software development can be a strategic move for meeting your company's needs, but success is not guaranteed without a thoughtful approach. This list serves as a foundational guide, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right partner and establishing processes that enhance the likelihood of successful outsourcing. Explore our additional tips and tricks for selecting software vendors to further refine your outsourcing strategy.

Strategies to Avoid Analysis Paralysis in Software Development

Embarking on the profound journey of software development, one is quickly confronted with an elemental truth: there is no singular answer to any problem. This revelation, cultivated over years spent traversing the intricate landscape of algorithms, architectures, and enterprise platforms, is a foundational tenet of a seasoned software practitioner's wisdom. In this exploration, we delve into an extensive array of strategies, tips, and insights accumulated over decades to avoid the notorious pitfall known as "Analysis Paralysis"—a condition that has the potential to stifle innovation and progress within the realm of software development.

Analysis paralysis (or paralysis by analysis) describes an individual or group process where overanalyzing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become "paralyzed"…

Diverse Solutions, Diverse Perspectives: The Essence of Software Problem-Solving

The very essence of software problem-solving lies in the acknowledgment of the myriad ways one can arrive at a solution. Whether grappling with the intricacies of a simple algorithm or sculpting the blueprint for a sophisticated enterprise platform, every problem unfolds a cornucopia of potential solutions, each laden with its unique set of advantages and drawbacks. The challenge transcends merely finding "A Solution"; it involves navigating through the labyrinth of alternatives without succumbing to the pitfalls of perpetual analysis. The software development landscape is, at times, besieged by the affliction known as "Analysis Paralysis," wherein teams become ensnared in the web of alternatives, often resulting in indecision or, worse, a protracted stalemate leading to time depletion.

Ego: The Silent Saboteur in Software Development

The cardinal rule that stands as a beacon amid the complexities of software development is the imperative to divorce personal ego from professional discussions. Ego, oftentimes the silent saboteur, emerges as the biggest impediment to progress. The ability to detach oneself from ideas becomes a hallmark of seasoned developers. It is not about defending one's ego; it is about finding solutions. The moment discussions devolve into personal defenses, the focus shifts from the noble pursuit of creating value to the counterproductive endeavor of preserving one's ego—an unfruitful detour that hampers collaborative innovation. We are big fans of Ryan Holiday’s book about Ego - Ego is the Enemy

We are such big fans of the book that we have also made a video about it our books that software developers must read series in Bangla.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Leverage Collective Knowledge

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

By Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides

In a domain where problems often recur, acknowledging that others may have already navigated similar challenges is paramount. Leveraging the vast repository of knowledge available online, particularly through platforms like Stack Overflow, becomes a strategic imperative. The power of authoritative voices cannot be overstated; quoting industry giants and referencing proven design patterns can elevate a discussion from a mere exchange of opinions to a collaborative pursuit of well-founded solutions.

"In my view, the Gang of Four is the best book ever written on object-oriented design - possibly of any style of design." — Martin Fowler

The Power of Data: Informed Decision-Making in Software Development

Data, the bedrock of informed decision-making, is abundantly available in the software domain. Harnessing statistical data, survey results, and insights from scientific studies can provide concrete support for proposed solutions. From the impact of developers' seating positions to broader topics like software architecture, relying on reputable data sources becomes instrumental in guiding teams out of the quagmire of analysis paralysis. It transforms decision-making from subjective deliberations to an objective process grounded in empirical evidence.

The Personal Touch: Sharing Experiences as a Catalyst for Understanding

While data adds an objective weight to arguments, the personal touch of shared experiences provides a relatable dimension. Narratives from one's own journey, divested of ego and fortified by precise connections to the current context, can resonate profoundly with the team. Anecdotes become powerful tools when used to illustrate how past experiences align with proposed solutions, fostering a deeper understanding and connection among team members.

Embracing Open-mindedness: The Antidote to Rigidity

Acknowledging the absence of a perfect solution is not a concession but a realization of the dynamic nature of software development. No team can claim perfection, and staying open-minded becomes the linchpin for continuous improvement. An agile approach, marked by skepticism and a readiness to reassess decisions, helps navigate the ever-evolving landscape of software development. The ability to pivot and adapt, even after reaching a conclusion, ensures that teams remain agile and responsive to the multifaceted challenges that arise.

Testing the Waters: Prototyping, A/B Testing, and Surveys

In a realm where certainty is elusive, keeping options flexible is paramount. Teams can employ various strategies to test proposed solutions and mitigate the risk of committing to an unsuitable path:

Prototyping

Creating a low-cost prototype can be instrumental in testing specific functionalities or validating the feasibility of an approach. A quick test project has the potential to provide tangible insights, resolving potential bottlenecks before they become significant obstacles.

A/B Testing

If possible, running low-cost A/B testing can shed light on which of multiple solutions is a better option. By pitting two opposing groups against each other, teams can design low-cost tests to prove or disprove the effectiveness of different approaches.

Surveys

Engaging stakeholders, including customers or other software developers, through surveys can provide valuable external perspectives. Asking for opinions on proposed solutions or seeking feedback on the perceived technical viability can augment the decision-making process.

In the dynamic realm of software development, the ability to navigate through the multitude of solutions is an art. Freeing oneself from the shackles of ego, leveraging authoritative voices, relying on data, sharing experiences, and embracing open-mindedness collectively form a robust toolkit for steering clear of analysis paralysis.

As we continue to evolve in the world of coding, these strategies serve as a compass, guiding us through the maze of possibilities. In the end, it's not just about finding a solution but about embarking on a journey where every road taken contributes to the collective wisdom of the software development community. The software development odyssey is a continuous exploration, where adaptability, collaboration, and a commitment to learning become the sails propelling us forward into the uncharted waters of innovation and excellence.

What is the right working environment in a software company?

In the intricate tapestry of life, there exists a Shakespearean ambivalence, a delicate dance of uncertainty and certainty. Yet, amidst the nuanced shades of gray, one element stands out starkly: the cubicle. To say that cubicles are bad is not merely a subjective opinion but a definitive statement, a truth etched without a shred of doubt.

The question that inevitably follows is, "If not cubicles, then what?" Here, Shakespeare yields the stage to a more pragmatic inquiry: What constitutes the best workspace layout?

From towering corporations to the intimate spaces of universities and architectural firms, this query has echoed through the hallowed halls of decision-makers, often with mixed results. To navigate this labyrinth, let us embark on a journey guided by data, revealing two resounding truths that cast a guiding light on the ideal workspace configuration.

Cubicles are the Worst environment possible

Proximity Matters in the Digital Age:

In an era dominated by digital connectivity, the physical closeness of individuals still holds unparalleled power. Numerous studies, including extensive research by MIT Media Lab, attest to the positive correlation between physical proximity and collaboration. As Ben Waber, a scientist at MIT Media Lab, succinctly puts it, "The probability that any two people on a corporate campus will interact physically or digitally is directly proportional to the distance between their desks."

Team Interaction vs. Productivity:

Contrary to the prevailing belief that increased interaction fosters productivity, evidence suggests otherwise. A study conducted by an MIT team in a major German bank demonstrated that heightened interactions between disparate teams could undermine overall performance. The logical inference: keep individual teams together but separate from others.

Patterns in workspace design helps productivity:

In light of these revelations, a timeless solution emerges from the annals of workspace design: Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language." Page 414 of this venerable tome holds the key to a fundamental truth — a truth that resonates with the essence of human collaboration.

"The fundamental learning situation is one in which a person learns by helping someone who really knows what he is doing... Arrange the work in every workgroup, industry, and office in such a way that work and learning go forward hand in hand."

The implementation of this philosophy aligns seamlessly with the structure of our offices, nestled in the historic brick-built houses of Dhaka. Transforming adjacent rooms, and sometimes even connecting verandas, into team spaces fosters an environment where work and learning coalesce. A dedicated space for the team lead ensures a mentorship dynamic, fostering collaboration and facilitating impromptu discussions without disturbing the workflow.

The brick walls, emblematic of strength and resilience, serve a dual purpose. They not only shield teams from unwanted interference but also prevent unrelated conversations from disrupting the flow of focused work.

In conclusion, as we navigate the complex realm of office layouts, we find solace in the fact that Shakespeare, with all his literary prowess, has little to contribute to this practical discourse. The answers lie not in the pages of a playwright's script but in the timeless wisdom of a well-crafted pattern language. We've deciphered the code, crafted our spaces, and in doing so, we pay homage to the bard — for while he may not guide our office layouts, we love him all the same.

Software: it's not for you, it's for your customer

The Crucial Art of Understanding Your Customer

In the dynamic landscape of software product development, there's a cardinal rule that often separates the triumphs from the tribulations: understanding your customer. The adage, "Your software is not for you, but for your customers," echoes through the corridors of startup wisdom, serving as a guiding principle for those seeking to navigate the complexities of bringing a digital creation to life.

The Costly Mistake of Losing Sight

Whether you're steering the ship as a startup founder or collaborating within a seasoned product team, losing sight of the end user's needs can prove fatal. It's akin to embarking on a journey without a map; the chances of reaching your destination diminish with each step taken in the dark.

Market Research: Illuminating the Path

Diving headfirst into comprehensive market research is the first beacon of light in this journey. It involves not just studying market trends but engaging directly with potential users. Understand their pain points, desires, and expectations. What keeps them up at night, and what would make their lives easier? These are the questions that form the basis of a foundation strong enough to withstand the tests of time.

Embracing Feedback: The True North

Feedback is the lifeblood of progress. Yet, many developers and founders shy away from it, fearing criticism or divergence from their original vision. This hesitancy is where the downfall begins. Embrace feedback, even the harshest critiques, as they are the keys to unlocking a product's true potential. Users, after all, are the most authentic judges of a product's usability and relevance.

Recognizing and Overcoming Biases

In the quest to create groundbreaking software, acknowledging and overcoming biases is paramount. As creators, we bring our own experiences, preferences, and assumptions to the table. However, these might not always align with the diverse needs of the target audience.

User-Centric Design: A Paradigm Shift

User-centric design is more than just a buzzword; it's a paradigm shift in approach. It involves stepping into the shoes of the end user, understanding their context, and designing a product that seamlessly integrates into their world. This shift challenges preconceived notions and ensures that the final product isn't a reflection of the creator's preferences but a solution tailored to the users' real-world challenges.

Personas: Bringing Users to Life

Creating user personas is a powerful technique to personify the abstract concept of your "customer." It goes beyond demographics, delving into the motivations, frustrations, and aspirations of fictional characters who represent your target audience. By crafting these personas, you build empathy and gain insights that can shape a product into something users don't just need but truly want.

The Process: Tried and Tested

As the saying goes, "To know thy customer is to know thyself." The journey of understanding your customer isn't a linear path but a mosaic of interconnected steps. Here are some key stepping stones:

1. Conduct User Interviews: Schedule one-on-one interviews with potential users. Listen actively, ask probing questions, and seek to understand the intricacies of their daily lives.

2. Utilize Surveys: Surveys are a scalable way to gather information. Craft well-thought-out surveys that touch on pain points, preferences, and user expectations.

3. Iterate Based on Feedback: Your product is not a static entity but an evolving one. Be prepared to iterate based on user feedback. Every critique is a valuable opportunity for improvement.

4. Test Prototypes: Before the full product launch, test prototypes with a select group of users. This provides real-world insights without the risks associated with a wide-scale release.

5. Leverage Analytics: Once your product is in the hands of users, leverage analytics tools to track user behavior. What features are popular? Where do users drop off? Use this data to refine and optimize.

A Warning Against Complacency

The ever-changing landscape of technology demands perpetual adaptability. Understanding your customer isn't a one-time task but an ongoing commitment. As markets evolve and user expectations shift, staying attuned to your customers ensures that your product remains relevant and impactful.

In the symphony of software product development, understanding your customer is the melodic refrain that resonates through every stage. It harmonizes market research, feedback, and user-centric design into a composition that strikes a chord with users. Embrace this cardinal rule, and your venture will not only survive but thrive in the dynamic and competitive realm of software innovation. After all, success in software development is not just about lines of code; it's about understanding the hearts and minds of those for whom the code is written.

7 steps for making the perfect software product

If you've ever wondered how your favorite apps and software tools come to life, this post is for you. Software development is a multifaceted journey, and we're about to uncover the seven steps used by the most successful companies around the world.

1. Idea Generation

Every great software product starts with an idea. But how do you generate one? In this stage, we explore tried-and-proven methods of coming up with creative concepts and validating them. There are some tried and tested models that work in generating great ideas (or at least, run a brainstorming session that doesn’t go all over the place!). One such method is widely known as the SCAMPER technique. This is something worth exploring if you are serious about running good sessions of idea generation, here’s another link that could be useful if you want to dive in a little deeper: SCAMPER: How to use the best ideation methods. Another simpler but effective method is very popular in some startup circles (and we’ve used it a lot with our projects with startups) - it’s known as the 5 Whys. Started by Taiichi Ohno, the 5 Whys analysis was what Toyota used to find the real problem at the root. It’s less complicated than other methods, the 5 Whys is simply what it sounds like: keep asking “why?” until you find the real reason behind a problem (or in our case, find the real solution to a problem that a product can provide).

2. Idea filtering

Not every idea makes it to the finish line. Idea screening is where you cut off concepts that don't align with user needs, market trends, or company values. What you have to do is filter all the ideas that came out of the idea generation sessions. There are some tried and tested processes for this filtration, some well known methods are visual matrices (here’s a great example: innovation matrix), financial evaluation, and SWOT analysis to ensure your idea is not only viable but well-thought-out. Of these our favourite has always been SWOT, which is used in all sort of traditional and non-traditional businesses for market analysis and works equally well in checking out ideas from a purely business viability standpoint.

SWOT acronym stands for the word: strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Those are the four key areas that you test out the ideas one by one. Here’s a quick summary of the steps, but for details check out the links above.

3. Concept Testing

Now, it's time to describe your product in a way that potential customers can understand and relate to. We explore essential aspects like pricing, usability, convenience, and quality. How much would users pay for your product? Is it easy to use? Does it meet expectations? These questions will shape your concept.

At this stage what you would want is feedback from others - ideally your potential customers. A great way to seek this feedback is by running surveys. Some innovative approaches can be used to get feedback such as running a competition, arranging events where potential users can talk about their experiences and problems, and using that as a platform to showcase your potential software and seek feedback.

Showing a concept product to potential users for feedback and conducting surveys can be a valuable step in the product development process. It helps you understand user preferences, gather insights, and make improvements before investing heavily in the final product. Here are some examples of how you can present a concept product to potential users and conduct surveys. Some great strategies for seeking feedback are:

Mockups and Wireframes:

• Create low-fidelity mockups or wireframes of your concept product using tools like Sketch, Figma, or Balsamiq.

• Share these visual representations with potential users, either in person or through online platforms.

• Ask for feedback on the layout, user interface, and overall user experience.

• Use open-ended questions in your survey to collect qualitative feedback on what they like and dislike about the design.

Interactive Prototypes:

• - Develop interactive prototypes of your concept product using prototyping tools like InVision, Axure, or Adobe XD.

• - Allow users to click through the prototype and perform basic actions to mimic the user experience.

• - Collect feedback on the functionality, navigation, and ease of use.

• - Use Likert-scale questions in your survey to measure user satisfaction with specific features or interactions.

Concept Videos:

• Create a video presentation or animation that showcases the concept product's key features and benefits.

• Share the video with potential users through social media, email, or in-person meetings.

• Ask users to provide feedback on whether the product addresses their needs and pain points.

• Use multiple-choice questions in your survey to gauge user interest and potential use cases.

Landing Page or Website:

• Develop a simple landing page or website for your concept product.

• Describe the product's value proposition and provide visuals or animations to illustrate how it works.

• Encourage users to sign up for updates or leave comments.

• Use user comments and sign-up data to assess interest and gather feedback.

Focus Groups and Workshops:

• Organize focus group sessions or workshops with potential users where you can present the concept product in person.

• Facilitate discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on interactions.

• Record group discussions and take notes on participants' reactions and suggestions.

• Follow up with a structured survey to gather additional insights and preferences.

Online Surveys:

• Create an online survey using platforms like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform.

• Share the survey link through email, social media, or your website.

• Include both closed-ended questions (e.g., multiple-choice) and open-ended questions (e.g., comment boxes) to capture a wide range of feedback.

• Ask users to rate the concept product's appeal, usability, and features.

4. Product Development

This is the actual stage of developing the product. Once the requirements are clear, the software's architecture and design are planned. This includes decisions about the technology stack, user interface design, and the overall structure of the software. Developers write the actual code for the software, following best practices and coding standards. This step involves translating the design into a functional program.

5. Testing and Execution

Quality assurance and testing are vital in ensuring your software functions flawlessly. Rigorous testing is conducted to ensure that the software functions correctly and meets its requirements. This includes unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing to catch and fix any defects or issues.

6. Post-Development

Once your product is developed and tested, it's time to prepare for launch. The software is prepared for release, which may involve setting up servers, databases, and configuring the environment for users. Deployment can be to a local network or a cloud-based infrastructure.

7. Maintenance and Support

Software development doesn't end with launch; it's an ongoing process. Software products require ongoing maintenance to fix bugs, apply updates, and ensure compatibility with evolving technologies. Customer support is also provided to assist users and address their concerns.

The journey of software product development is intricate and multifaceted, involving creativity, careful planning, and dedication. If you're considering bringing your software idea to life, following this seven-stage model can be your roadmap to success.

How to manage emotions in a software team

First, let’s get something straight: strong emotions are part of the human experience. And strong emotions can be both positive and negative for a team. We all have them in various degrees and that’s all ok. But let’s also accept the fact that strong emotions can sometimes be very detrimental to a working environment or team bonding. An episode of strong emotions where team members raise their voices against one another can affect team members' productivity and motivation for a very long time. It has the potential to do permanent damage. On the other hand, strong emotions can have very positive outcomes too - the team can be very happy about how well the product is doing, or be happy about a team member’s happy news, etc. It is specifically the negative emotion that every team lead is worried about and that is what this post is about.

Managing negative emotions in a software team is difficult. Recently we did a survey with our tech leads to find out what their best strategies for managing their teams and how they handle emotional outbursts (of the negative kind) and the like and here's what we came up with.

Encouraging Open Communication to Prevent Emotional Outbursts

One of the best ways to manage emotions in a software team is to encourage open communication. When team members feel heard and valued, they are less likely to experience emotional outbursts. As a manager or tech lead, it's essential to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their thoughts and concerns.

Encouraging open communication can be done in several ways. First, you can schedule regular one-on-one meetings with your team members. During these meetings, you can discuss any issues they may be facing and provide feedback on their work. Additionally, you can create an open-door policy where team members feel comfortable approaching you with any concerns they may have.

Another way to encourage open communication is to hold regular team meetings. During these meetings, you can discuss project progress, upcoming deadlines, and any challenges the team may be facing. You can also use this time to check in with your team members and see how they're doing both professionally and personally.

Finally, it's essential to provide opportunities for your team members to give feedback on the work environment and company culture. This feedback will help you identify areas that need improvement and make changes that will benefit everyone on the team.

By encouraging open communication within your software development team, you'll create an environment where emotional outbursts are less likely to occur. Team members will feel heard and valued, which will lead to increased productivity and motivation.

Setting Expectations for Behavior

In addition to encouraging open communication, it's also important to set expectations for behavior and emotional regulation during team meetings. This will help create a respectful and professional environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas.

As a manager or tech lead, you can start by setting ground rules for team meetings. These rules should be clear, concise, and easy to understand. For example, you can establish that interruptions are not allowed during presentations or that everyone should have an opportunity to speak before moving on to the next topic.

It's also important to encourage emotional regulation during team meetings. Emotions can run high when discussing challenging topics or when there are disagreements among team members. As a result, it's essential to remind everyone of the importance of keeping their emotions in check.

One way to promote emotional regulation is by practicing active listening. When someone is speaking, make sure that you're fully present and engaged in the conversation. Avoid interrupting or dismissing someone else's point of view.

Another way to encourage emotional regulation is by taking breaks if needed. If tensions are running high, take a short break so that everyone can cool off before continuing the discussion.

By setting expectations for behavior and emotional regulation during team meetings, you'll create an environment where everyone feels respected and valued. This will lead to more productive and efficient meetings where everyone has an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas.

Providing Training on Conflict Resolution and Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

By Goleman, Daniel

Another effective way to manage emotions in a software team is by providing training on conflict resolution and emotional intelligence. Conflict can arise in any team, but it's how the team members handle that conflict that makes all the difference.

By providing training on conflict resolution, you'll equip your team members with the tools and techniques needed to resolve conflicts peacefully. This training can cover topics such as active listening, empathy, and compromise. By developing these skills, team members will be better equipped to handle disagreements without letting their emotions get out of control.

In addition to conflict resolution training, providing training on emotional intelligence is also crucial. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize and regulate one's own emotions while also understanding and empathizing with others' emotions.

By developing emotional intelligence skills, team members will be better equipped to handle stressful situations without resorting to emotional outbursts. They'll also be better equipped to understand their colleagues' perspectives and work collaboratively towards common goals.

Overall, by investing in conflict resolution and emotional intelligence training for your software development team, you'll create a more cohesive and emotionally healthy work environment where everyone feels heard and valued.

Creating a Safe Space for Team Members to Express Their Emotions and Concerns

Creating a safe space for team members to express their emotions and concerns is crucial in managing emotions within a software development team. When team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings, they are less likely to experience emotional outbursts or bottling up their emotions.

As a manager or tech lead, it's essential to create an environment where everyone feels heard and valued. One way to do this is by scheduling regular check-ins with your team members. During these check-ins, you can ask how they're doing both professionally and personally. You can also provide feedback on their work and offer support if needed.

Another way to create a safe space is by setting aside time during team meetings for open discussion. This time can be used for team members to share any concerns they may have, brainstorm ideas, or discuss any challenges the team may be facing.

It's also important to establish confidentiality when it comes to sensitive topics discussed within the team. Team members need to know that what is discussed in those private moments will remain private.

By creating a safe space for your software development team, you'll foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves. This will lead to increased trust among the team members, improved communication, and ultimately better results.

Regular Check-ins to Address Potential Issues

Regular check-ins with team members are crucial in managing emotions within a software development team. These check-ins provide an opportunity for team members to discuss any potential issues or concerns before they escalate into bigger problems.

As a manager or tech lead, it's important to schedule regular check-ins with your team members. During these meetings, you can discuss any challenges they may be facing and offer support if needed. You can also provide feedback on their work and address any areas that need improvement.

Regular check-ins also provide an opportunity for you to gauge the emotional state of your team members. By checking in regularly, you'll be able to identify any potential emotional outbursts before they happen and take steps to prevent them from occurring.

In addition to one-on-one meetings, it's also essential to hold regular team meetings where everyone has an opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns. These meetings can be used for brainstorming new ideas, discussing project progress, and addressing any challenges the team may be facing.

By scheduling regular check-ins with your software development team, you'll create an environment where everyone feels heard and valued. This will lead to increased trust among the team members, improved communication, and ultimately better results.

Encouraging Self-Care Practices

Encouraging self-care practices is another effective strategy for managing emotions in a software development team. As a manager or tech lead, it's important to recognize that your team members are human beings with their own lives outside of work. Encouraging self-care practices can help them manage stress and avoid emotional burnout.

One way to encourage self-care practices is by promoting the importance of taking breaks. Taking short breaks throughout the day can help team members recharge and refocus. Encourage your team members to step away from their desks, take a walk, or do something they enjoy during these breaks.

Another way to encourage self-care practices is by promoting exercise. Exercise has been shown to be an effective stress reliever and mood booster. Encourage your team members to incorporate exercise into their daily routines, whether it's going for a run before work or taking a yoga class after work.

Finally, mindfulness techniques such as meditation and deep breathing can also be helpful in managing emotions. Encourage your team members to take a few minutes each day to practice mindfulness techniques. This can help them stay focused and calm during stressful situations.

By encouraging self-care practices within your software development team, you'll create an environment where everyone feels supported and valued. Team members will be better equipped to handle stress and avoid emotional burnout, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

How to hire software developers for startups?

In the competitive world of startups, hiring developers can be a daunting task, especially for early-stage companies with limited resources. Established organizations often have the advantage of offering better perks and stability, making it challenging for startups to attract and retain top talent. However, many startups have found a solution by outsourcing their development needs to third-party companies. The first thing to remember when you are planning to hire software developers for a startup is the fact:

Hiring developers for startups is different than hiring developers for established companies.

The developer-startup fit

When hiring developers for a startup, it is crucial to identify how they can add value to the company not only with their tech skills but also with their ability to think out of the box, their people skills to drive motivation in the team, and with their ability to take on work that is not well defined yet somehow needs to be done!

The key skill you are looking for in a startup team is the ability to get things done - quickly. That’s really it! It really doesn’t matter how well the code is written(!), how much of it was copied and pasted from a stackoverflow answer, how bad the variable names are, etc. The only thing that matters is how quickly a developer can solve a problem. Eventually, all those issues will begin to matter, but just not at the beginning. And if you lose time using resources with skills to write beautifully written and architected code there is every chance you’ll burn through your cash before you can find the software that people actually pay for.

Here are some key reasons why startups seek to hire developers:

1. Setting up the Tech Stack: Startups often lack in-house technical expertise and need developers who are familiar with the specific technologies required to build their product or application.

2. Fast Growth: Startups operate in a rapidly changing landscape and need to quickly develop and test their ideas. Hiring a team of developers enables them to make swift progress and present a minimum viable product (MVP) to potential investors.

3. Staying Within Budget: Startups, especially those with limited financial resources, need to be cautious with their expenses. Selecting developers with relevant experience and skills within the startup's budget is crucial for cost-effectiveness.

4. Building a Strong Team: As startups grow, it becomes essential to delegate tasks and build a capable team. Hiring developers who align with the startup's goals and values ensures a solid foundation for future development.

The challenge

While the benefits of hiring developers are evident, startups face several challenges in the process:

1. Lack of Local Talents: The demand for IT professionals often exceeds the available local talent pool, leaving startups with limited options for recruitment. Competing with larger corporations for skilled developers becomes a tedious and costly endeavor.

2. Retention Benefits Competition with Large Corporates: Startups often struggle to retain developers as larger companies entice them with attractive perks and higher salaries. Losing valuable team members can cause delays and disruptions in the development process.

3. Financial Concerns: Hiring full-time developers entails significant financial commitments, including salaries, benefits, and upskilling expenses. Startups, operating within tight budgets, may find it challenging to sustain such costs, especially during early stages.

4. Hiring Issues: Startups face difficulties in hiring due to their limited brand credibility and the absence of dedicated HR departments. Finding and attracting the right developers becomes more complex, especially when time is of the essence.

Benefits of Hiring Remote Developers for Startups

To overcome the challenges of hiring developers, many startups opt to outsource or hire remote developers. Here are the benefits of this approach:

1. Tech Talent Availability: Outsourcing allows startups to tap into a global talent pool, enabling them to choose from a wider range of skilled developers. Countries like Ukraine offer a large pool of talented professionals, expanding the options for startups.

2. Faster Recruitment: Hiring remote developers for specific projects is less time-consuming compared to traditional full-time hiring processes. Startups can focus on finding developers with the necessary skills for the current project, minimizing long-term commitments.

3. Flexibility: Remote outsourcing provides flexibility in assembling a team with diverse expertise. Startups can select developers with specific skills required for different aspects of their development process, and easily scale the team as per workload demands.

4. Cost Efficiency: Outsourcing IT development can be more cost-effective for startups, particularly when operating in countries with higher local talent costs. Hiring remote developers from countries with competitive rates allows startups to optimize their budget without compromising on quality.

5. More Experience and Expertise: By outsourcing, startups can access developers with relevant experience and expertise in their industry or niche. These experienced professionals require less guidance, minimizing development mistakes and ensuring a smoother timeline.

Hiring developers for startups with the right fit is challenging. Hiring remote developers offer practical solutions and in many cases the only sane solution. By leveraging the global talent pool, startups can overcome limitations in local talent availability, accelerate recruitment processes, optimize costs, and benefit from experienced professionals. Understanding the motivations, challenges, and benefits of hiring developers equips startups with the knowledge to make informed decisions and build a strong development team that fuels their growth and success.

GoodFirms Confirms, KAZ Software Limited is Rebuilding the Future of Software Solutions in Bangladesh

In today’s context, software development has become the most convenient and fastest way to generate digital solutions to enormous tech issues and problems. Hence, the leading software developers in Bangladesh design, program, build, deploy, and maintain software systems utilizing their intelligence, skills, and several tech tools. KAZ Software Limited is one of those trusted tech solution providers that employs many knowledgeable and experienced tech professionals who contribute to their company's and nation's success coordinatively.

KAZ Software Limited has enough potential to power the important software requirements of a business. It was established in 2004 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as a startup software outsourcing company and became a public limited company in 2005. It holds 18 years of experience in various genres of IT and development and has accomplished 200+ software projects for over 150+ companies worldwide. 

A massive group of engineers, designers, and content specialists provide pragmatic, practical, and powerful custom-based solutions to help client companies address their challenging situations. 

What Services Does KAZ Software Limited Cover for its Customers?

The company's mission is to visualize its customers' ideas into mockups and make the transformations easier and up to the mark by providing them with fantastic software experiences. The team is an expert in developing intuitive web applications, mobile applications, games, desktop tools, IoT software, and VR experiences that carve unique products for their customers for lifetime and benefit businesses in both the technical and business domains.

The company has been developing software for various industries since 2004, and it works for all three platforms that are majorly used by the users i.e., web, mobile, and desktop. From developing social apps, large content portals, tax optimization tools, and LDAP management tools to VoIP billing systems, stock trading portals, online holiday management tools, and so on, KAZ Software Limited has touched a benchmark in exceptional software development. The design team helps the clients with demos, mockups, and presentations to shape the brainstorming ideas of their customers into reality through practical creativity, graphics, and interaction design. 

The unbeatable research team is supported by data specialists, a panel of experts to create and maintain full-proof content, and exceptional data transformation services to help research, compile, and keep content for various applications in diverse industries. The SQA process and integrated quality assurance reflect the involvement and implementation of agile and lean approaches to provide transitional experiences to the customers. Hence, the company is ranked the top software development company in Bangladesh by GoodFirms for its indifferent system and consistent performance in the market.

Top Projects Built at KAZ Software Limited

On the one hand, KAZ Software Limited has worked for New York’s startup P1ston, Inc. to provide an innovative platform to the manufacturers and distributors of the company with visibility and automation supplies; on the other hand, it has developed an MVP application for an innovative startup. 

There are many stars to the achievement of the company as:

1.     Develops an innovative enterprise platform integrated with MS Teams to improve the level of participation, data, and interest of the project leaders

2.     Develops integrated project monitoring and evaluation solution for a development giant based on Angular and ASP.NET technologies

3.     Helps an agrotech software company with developing an IoT-based agrotech app

4.     Develops a design and development portal for Qatar Financial

5.     A publishing and display platform

6.     A live concert audience engagement platform

7.     eLearning gamification and virtual reality VR games

8.     Location-based social networking platform

Check out the company's tech stack, which is appreciated worldwide for developing extraordinary applications and software solutions.

Positive client testimonials depict why KAZ Software Limited is valued among its customers and is admired worldwide for its outstanding services.

 GoodFirms Research Methodology

GoodFirms is a leading review and rating platform for tech businesses that assure optimum results through advanced research and consulting measures. The company provides a growing medium for B2B businesses that help them connect with their profitable partners and make the best decisions for their future growth.

Conclusion

As per Bangladesh ICT Division, there are over 400,000 tech professionals in the country, and their percentage is growing at a rate of 15-20% annually. The best thing is that most of these professionals belong to software development and IT services, making the IT industry of the country the most trusted and reliable for their clients worldwide. 

KAZ Software Limited pioneers the successful brigade of experienced, talented, and qualified engineers and developers skillfully and efficiently contributing to the country's software development fraternity and economy. The company depicts its popular image and enhanced goodwill ratio in the future.

About GoodFirms

GoodFirms is a leading ranking platform for businesses seeking their significant establishment in the field of information technology. It helps software vendors and IT companies connect and mutually benefit from growing together. The rankings are updated continuously, and review scores are given based on their intensity.  

About the Author

Working as a Content Writer at GoodFirms, Anna Stark bridges the gap between service seekers and service providers. Anna's dominant role lingers to form every company's achievement and critical attributes into words. She strongly believes in the charm of words and equips new approaches that work, always with concepts, something new to create, and something unique to enhance the firm's identity.

Partnering to start a software business

Partnerships are a common business structure for startups, with each partner bringing unique skills, resources, and expertise to the table. However, partnerships can also be challenging, especially when it comes to dividing shares and seeking investment without losing too much equity. In this post, we will explore some ideas about how partnerships in a new software company might work, how shares could be divided, and how founders can seek investment without giving away too much equity. Most of these comes from our years of experience working on software products for clients all over the world. Hope some of these ideas can help you set up and operate your own software enterprise.

Partnership

A partnership is a legal structure that allows two or more people to share the ownership and management of a business. In a startup, partnerships are often formed between co-founders who share a common vision and are committed to working together to achieve a common goal.

Partnerships can take different forms, including general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships. Each of these types of partnerships has different implications in terms of liability, taxation, and management.

In a general partnership, each partner is jointly and severally liable for the debts and obligations of the business. This means that if the business is sued or cannot pay its debts, each partner is personally responsible for the full amount.

In a limited liability partnership, all partners have limited liability for the debts and obligations of the business. This means that if the business is sued or cannot pay its debts, each partner is only liable for the amount of money they have invested in the business. Such a partnership would have to be registered in the local business registration process, examples of such limited liability enterprises are LLC in the US or Limited companies in Bangladesh. Without a second thought, this is the way every software partnership should go - as it is a clean way of separating the personal from the enterprise. It is also well-regulated and provides a better way of operating the business in general.

Shares

Dividing shares in a new partnership can be challenging, especially if the partners have different levels of investment, skills, and experience. The key to dividing shares fairly is to consider each partner's contribution to the business and to agree on a formula that reflects this contribution.

One common approach to dividing shares in a software company is to use a vesting schedule. A vesting schedule is a schedule that determines when each partner's shares become fully available (vested) and can be sold or transferred. Typically, a vesting schedule will have a cliff period of one year, during which no shares are vested, followed by a four-year vesting period.

Another approach to dividing shares in a startup partnership is to use a formula based on each partner's contribution. For example, if one partner has invested $100,000 in the business and another partner has invested $50,000, the first partner might receive twice as many shares as the second partner. In this same method, the actual contribution could be “sweat” as in time and effort instead of money. Let’s say a partner says he won’t put in money but will actually spend time to write the code of the software - the value of the time spent needs to be converted to a dollar value and then that value can be used to determine the shares. For example, if partner A is going to spend 50 hours writing the code, and each of his hours at fair market rate is $100, his contribution is $5000. In that company, if the other partner B contributes $10,000 in cash then the shares could be distributed based on two-thirds for B and one-third for A.

Additional funding

Seeking investment is an essential part of growing a software company, but it can also be a challenge for founders who want to maintain control over their business and avoid giving away too much equity. Here are several strategies that we like that can get much-needed funds without losing any or too much equity:

1. Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping is a strategy in which founders use their own resources to fund the startup, rather than seeking outside investment. This can include using personal savings, credit cards, or loans from friends and family.

2. Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding is a strategy in which founders raise funds from a large number of people, usually through a platform such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Crowdfunding can be an effective way to raise funds without giving away equity, although it typically works best for consumer products or services with a broad appeal.

3. Strategic Partnerships: Strategic partnerships are partnerships with other businesses or organizations that can provide resources, expertise, or funding to the startup. Strategic partnerships can be an effective way to raise funds and build relationships without giving away equity.

Hope this short post helps you with some ideas about partnering for software business. Software startups are amazing and exciting journeys - but doing them right by following some basic tried and test formulas makes life so much easier!

Cultural contexts in the world of remote software teams - Eid Festivals

We are fast moving towards a work culture where most of our team members are located away from us - and in many cases thousands of miles away, in a different cultural context and a different language-speaking world. This new reality is making it extremely important to know the cross-cultural issues of a mixed team - for team members of course but more importantly for team leaders. Without knowing the at least an overview of the context the team dynamics can become very complicated. We wrote recently about such contexts such as knowing 5 words of the remote team that is beyond just knowing a few words in a new language but really knowing something key. We also wrote about the general cultural issues that every remote software team should be aware of. The recent passing of the Eid festivals in Muslim countries reminds us of another such cultural context, as Eid in the Muslim world is equal to Christmas in the Christian world and thus it has a lot of hit on the teams workflow.

The Eids - there are two of them

Eid is a time of celebration and joy for Muslims around the world. The festival is celebrated twice a year: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which is around a two months after the Eid al Fitr. These festivals are significant religious holidays for Muslims and are celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervor.

And most importantly, in both of them, you greet each other with the words “Eid Mubarak”.

The first Eid - Eid al Fitr

For Muslims, Eid al-Fitr is a time of joy and celebration after a month-long period of fasting during Ramadan. In most countries people just refer to this first Eid as just “Eid” and have a modified named for the 2nd Eid (Eid al Adha), e.g. in Bangladesh Eid al Adha is usually referred to as “Kurbani Eid”.

Eid al Fitr is time to thank God for the blessings received during Ramadan and to forgive and forget any past grievances. The day starts with a special prayer at the mosque and is followed by a traditional breakfast meal. Families and friends come together to exchange gifts and greetings, and children often receive money as a token of love and affection.

The second Eid - Eid al Adha

Eid al-Adha, on the other hand, is a time for Muslims to commemorate the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail. The day starts with a special prayer called Eid Salah, followed by the sacrifice of an animal, usually a goat, sheep, or cow. This is why in Bangladesh this Eid is known as “Kurbani” Eid - the word “Kurbani” means to sacrifice. The meat is divided into three parts: one for the family, one for friends and neighbors, and one for the poor and needy.

In addition to these religious observances, there are also cultural traditions associated with Eid. For example, in some Muslim countries, it is customary to wear new clothes on Eid and to decorate homes and streets with colorful lights and decorations. In some countries, people exchange sweets and other delicacies, while in others, it is common to prepare a special Eid meal for family and friends.

Your team and Eid

Understanding the cultural context of Eid is important for software teams that work with Muslim countries is super important as these two events have a significant impact on work, life and thinking of your team. The first and foremost is the reason of showing respect. As Eids are religious festivals there is a lot reverence involved around it and it will be greatly appreciated by your team if you know some basics about the Eids. By taking the time to learn about Eid and its significance, you demonstrate your willingness to engage with your colleagues on a deeper level and to build stronger relationships based on mutual understanding and respect.

Understanding the cultural context of Eid can help you to be more effective in your work. For example, if you are aware that your colleagues will be celebrating Eid, you can plan your work schedule accordingly. You can also take into account the fact that many Muslim countries have different working hours during Eid, which may affect your ability to communicate with your colleagues or to receive timely feedback on your work.

The other big thing about knowing some background is to avoid misunderstandings or cultural faux pas! For example, if you are planning to send an email or schedule a meeting during Eid, it is important to be aware of the fact that your team members may be busy with religious observances or spending time with family and friends. By being sensitive to these cultural differences, you can avoid unintentionally causing offense or misunderstanding.

Hope this little post helped you a bit in running your remote software team better. Eid Mubarak!

5 Word you must know in the language of your remote team

In this globalized workforce world, remote teams are facts of life for every company around us. And especially in the software world having teams that are remote and a mixture of software developers from many corners of the world is very common. Such remote teams are perfect for companies to move fast and stay on track in the fast-paced world of software products. But they also bring in lots of new challenges to the teamwork dynamics essential for software teams. Remote teams are nothing new for us, as a software development consultancy, we’ve been working with literally 100s of remote teams from around the world for the past 19 years! We’ve written extensively about managing such teams well. Some recent posts include the things to remember when managing multicultural remote teams, tips about making remote team meetings fun, team leadership skills for remote software teams, and many more.

One of the things our project managers and clients talk about is the simple idea of knowing some important cultural important words in the language of your remote team. Note that it’s not about knowing how to speak the language but just knowing a particular word that has a lot of cultural contexts. A good example for someone working from the UK would be “a pint” - the word points to a pint of beer on the surface but also a million other associations related to relaxing, having fun, being with friends, etc. in the UK. We did a survey with our clients and some of the remote teams we work with and asked them:

“Give us 5 (and only 5) words we should know before we start working with you”.

Here are the results, but remember that pronunciation is a big thing, so make sure to use google translation to find the correct pronunciation.

Bangladesh:

• Salam (Hello)

• Dhonnobad (Thank you)

• Cha (Tea)

• Bhorta (Mashed food)

• Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New Year)

India:

• Namaste (Hello)

• Shukriya (Thank you)

• Chai (Tea)

• Roti (Flatbread)

• Diwali (Festival of Lights)

Vietnam:

• Xin chào (Hello)

• Cảm ơn (Thank you)

• Trà (Tea)

• Phở (Vietnamese noodle soup)

• Tết (Lunar New Year)

Cambodia:

• Sous-dey (Hello)

• Or-koon (Thank you)

• Chaa (Tea)

• Amok (Fish curry)

• Khmer New Year

Mexico:

• Hola (Hello)

• Gracias (Thank you)

• Té (Tea)

• Tacos (Mexican food)

• Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Poland:

• Cześć (Hello)

• Dziękuję (Thank you)

• Herbata (Tea)

• Pierogi (Polish dumplings)

• Wielkanoc (Easter)

Egypt:

• As-salām 'alaykum (Hello)

• Shukraan (Thank you)

• Shay (Tea)

• Koshari (Egyptian dish)

• Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast)

Spain:

• Hola (Hello)

• Gracias (Thank you)

• Té (Tea)

• Paella (Spanish dish)

• La Tomatina (Tomato Festival)

The above words are what came from our survey of the top 5 and may not be representative of the entire culture or language. It's always best to just ask your local team members for a better understanding of their language and culture!

The steps for forming a new software company

Do you have a great software product idea? And are you sure you want to make that product and sell it? If the answer to those questions is yes then first congratulations! and then a follow up question: have you thought about starting a new company yet?

By starting the company - I mean company as both a legal entity and as well as the actions and plans to get the project started that will lead to that software being made, shipped, marketed and sold in a structured way.

Starting a company is an exciting and rewarding experience. But it can also be an overwhelming experience for a first-time startup founder. There are many things to consider, from legal requirements to funding and everything in between. At Kaz we have been helping founders launch their software products from a mere idea to a real software with millions of users. And we’ve been doing this for the past 18 years, so we have seen many of our customers go through this experience. Here are the steps you need to follow to form your software company and some of our tips about making this process foolproof and less chaotic than usual.

Create a Business Plan First

Before you do anything formal - like search for partners, software vendors, marketers or lawyers for setting up the structures and forming a company, it’s absolutely essential to develop a business plan. A business plan is a document that outlines your goals, target market, revenue projections, and other crucial details. It will serve as a roadmap for your business and help you stay focused on your goals. Here are some of the things your business plan can have, but don’t go overboard on these, remember that the goal is to outline a rough map first so that you have some clarity. You will be updating the business plan as you go along and definitely giving it a lot of meat when you start showing it to potential investors or maybe even to your friends!

At a minimum your business plan should include the following sections, even if they are just basic outlines:

• Executive summary: A brief overview of your company and its goals.

• Market analysis: A detailed analysis of your target market and competition.

• Product or service description: A description of your product or service and how it solves a problem for your target market.

• Marketing and sales strategy: A plan for how you will reach your target market and generate revenue.

• Financial projections: A detailed financial forecast, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.

A little googling will help you give some idea what you should be putting in there and maybe some templates too. Here’s a great article from Shopify’s blog (which is good place to look at other startup/small business setup content). One great thing that we’ve seen many of our founders use is the Business Model Canvas which is like a template for thinking of new businesses. It guides you through all the important aspects of the new business you should be thinking of (e.g. what value will be there, what are the competitors, where will I get my money from, etc.). It’s the best starting point for any new business concept and we find that most successful businesses actually stay on this template for most of their journey and use it to create all their business plans.

From: HBR

Decide on the Legal Structure of the Company

Once you have a business plan in place, you’ll need to choose a legal structure for your company. The most common legal structures for startups are:

• Sole proprietorship: A business owned and operated by one person.

• Partnership: A business owned by two or more people.

• Limited liability company (e.g. LLC in the US, Ltd. in Bangladesh, etc.): A flexible business structure that provides liability protection for its owners.

Each legal structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it’s essential to choose the one that best suits your needs. If you aren’t sure, the default should be a limited liability company, but it’s always good to consult with a lawyer or accountant to help you make the right decision. Here’s a great summary and comparison reading material for your further reading.

Register the Business

Once you know the legal structure want to go with then it’s pretty much a step by step process that you have to follow. The actual steps vary from country to country. But in all cases you’ll need to register your business with the appropriate authorities. This will typically involve filing paperwork and paying a fee.

Get the Permits and Licenses

In any country, there would be a requirement of getting a permit or a license to start your business. This is beyond just registering the business above. For example, if you plan to start a restaurant, you’ll need to obtain get a food premises permit and maybe a liquor license. In the case of software, typically it’s less convoluted, you’ll probably need a merchant’s permit if you an e-commerce store, etc. The big exception is if your software is in a highly regulated space such as fintech, communications, transport, etc. You’ll need to find out the permits you need from the local business bureau or your accountant. Whatever you do make sure you know the requirements and get the relevant permits before you actually start doing the actual business. We’ve seen founders who’ve delayed this one important task and then ended up paying hefty fines or worse getting into legal challenges. A complete waste of energy and time.

Get Funding

Most new businesses will require some form of funding to get off the ground. There are several options for funding, for example:

• Bootstrapping: Funding your business with your own money.

• Friends and family: Borrowing money from friends and family.

• Bank loans: Borrowing money from the bank - you’ll need your business plan for this!

• Crowdfunding: Raising money from a large group of people via an online platform.

• Venture capital: Raising money from investors in exchange for equity in your company.

Each funding option has its own pros and cons, so it’s important to carefully consider which one is right for your business. You’ll need to research the options well, know what you are getting into and plan for the additional overhead for managing the funding. Many times we see our founders getting off track with money issues. It’s good to plan this well.

Get your Team

You can’t really create a software business completely by yourself (there are many exceptions though, one of my favorite stories is how two brothers made and ran a multi-million dollar software company for the game doodle jump). You will need a team around you. At the very minimum, you’ll need a software development team. If you don’t want to (or don’t have the money to) hire a permanent team you should definitely consider using a software development agency like us, this strategy gives you a lot of flexibility and control.

When hiring team members, look for individuals who share your vision and values and have the skills and experience to help your business succeed. Be sure to clearly communicate your expectations and provide adequate training and support.

Well, that’s it for today. Good luck on your journey! And drop us a line about what you want to make …

Get your team and build your software

Making remote software team meetings fun

Remote teams spread out over multiple locations around the globe and speaking multiple different languages as their first are the norm these days for most software companies. This is a great trend, as it opens up the availability of software talent to software projects and makes hiring great software developers a much easier task for companies. But as with anything else in this world, those great things come with some downsides. One of the biggest downside is the lack of interaction between team members. Without that interaction the essential element of any good software team: “gelling”, doesn’t happen. We’ve written in the past about how to make the remote team gel so it’s worth a look up if you haven’t read it. Today, we’ll drill down to one aspect of remote team interaction that needs special attention: team meetings.

Team meetings are one of the holy grails for a software project to perform well. It’s a meetup of the team to discuss the project, where they are and where they are going. It essentially setups up the direction of the team at regular intervals. Hence it’s very important to get the meeting right. However, if the meeting is too formal, then it becomes a painful waste of time, where people just sit through boring proceedings and not really discuss the issues at hand in an open way. And the only way you can make that happen is if make the team meeting a relaxed and fun event that people actually like attending. As you can imagine, remote teams pose a difficult challenge to this premise of a “fun” team meeting. We been running remote teams for the past 18 years as a software development agency that helps companies build software products so we have a few tips and tricks to solve this problem. And in today’s post I want to share them with you.

Fun introductions and catch up games

By introducing a short game over the remote call you can easily “break the ice” for new members of a team or even reinvigorate an old team that has been working away from each other too long.

A classic in this remote meeting games is called the "what do you really know" game. This is where you (as the team lead/ project manager) begin a meeting by asking the participants to share something that they know really well. This could be anything from baking to e-bikes. The idea is to leverage people's expertise and build connection and trust right at the beginning of the meeting. You then ask questions about their areas of expertise, which led to interesting conversations.

There are many other virtual games that you can run on the meetings, a quick google search with get you a whole bunch of them.

Running the meeting in the radio host mode

In this this, you make everyone turn off their video! By turning off the video, you've shifted the norm from your team, which spikes the level of fun and engagement in the group. Then you ask someone to assume they are a radio host and then ask others questions like a radio talk show. Here’s an example:

Host: “So, Max, I read on the newspaper that your feature of calculating optimal rates in the software is going really well, tell us something about what you are doing right now?”

You could spice it up a bit to create the feel of a political leader interview, here’s an example:

Host: “But many people have protested that the it doesn’t do the calculation as you promised, is that true?”

There are many variations on this theme and after some practice you’ll find that this is a unique way running the meeting which discusses serious issues in a fun and engaging way. Best of both worlds!

Show and tell

This is modelled after the show and tell things we used to do in elementary school. On the fun introductions and break the ice mode you could ask the participants to find a specific item in their house and bring it back to the meeting. This could be anything from a childhood photo to a favorite book. This is a great way to build connection and get to know each other better.

And on the serious work side, you could ask team members to show the feature they are working on, and describe it in the elementary school “show and tell” mode.

Information sharing via Ice breaker sessions

Icebreakers are warm-up activities that help make virtual meetings exciting and engaging. They require little to no preparation, and they have a lot of potential when done right. Good icebreakers help mitigate the feeling of being a bunch of strangers hanging out in a room together. They have people acknowledge each other's existence, which is just enough to get people excited. Even the few minutes invested in an icebreaker might make people laugh, make them open up to dialogue, and even help them step out of their comfort zone.

One really good ice breaker session is the highs and lows. It’s an awesome way to help people empathize with their peers. You basically ask everyone to share their successes with tasks assigned “highs” and failures “lows”. The goal is to make it easy for everyone to share where they failed without feeling bad or trying to hide such failures. This activity will encourage people to engage in meaningful dialogue with their peers, and most importantly, it enables teammates to provide their colleagues with the support where they failed and needed congratulations on their successes. As a result, this helps create a sense of empathy among team members and promotes a culture of support. Plus, this exercise encourages the exchange of valuable information between people.

So that’s it for now, our top tips for making your next team meeting fun!

Managing a multi-cultural remote software team

Remote work is the new normal, and managers need to be prepared to lead their teams in this new environment. And in today's globalized world, multicultural teams are the common remote teams. Cultural diversity is common in onsite teams too but the issues of miscommunications because of cultural issues are much more complex in remote teams. With the rise of remote work and the desire for flexibility among younger generations, managing a team from different cultural backgrounds has become one of the biggest challenge for managers. And this is an essential skill that all managers are picking up.

Since Kaz is a software development agency based out of Bangladesh and we work mostly with software companies based in the US or Europe. So the very nature of our work leads us to the remote cross cultural issues. And this not a new thing for us because of the recent rise of remote work. We’ve been participating in remote software teams for the past 18 years, and over that long time we’ve probably seen all the things that can go wrong in such cross culture, cross language teams and have devised strategies that solve those issue (or at least reduces to chances of them arising). We’ve also come up with a little poster for expressions in English that doesn’t translate well, that we sometimes give to our customers’ project managers as a cheat-sheet! So, today’s post is a summary of some of our best tips around this and that useful “cross culture expressions to avoid cheat-sheet”.

Understand that there is problem

This is important. Specially in the software world. We sometimes hear things like: “At the end it’s all code, and the language of code is the same so there will be no problem”. Although at the fundamental level that is very true, but to get to that stage of work and collaboration the remote teams still have go through layers of communications. That communications is typically in a language that isn’t a first language for at least one side and sometimes for both sides. And that’s where the start of the problem happens, and layer on top of that the cultural difference and the fact that cultural context changes the meaning of many expressions and mannerisms - you have a problem. So it’s vital for software managers to understand that there is a problem and it will need active strategies and process to solve that problem.

In this context, it is essential to recognize that cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts. As the speaker in the video explains, even seemingly simple things like expressions about time can have very different meanings in different cultures. For example, in some cultures, "just now" might mean "in a few minutes," while in others, it might mean "sometime in the future." Without understanding these differences, miscommunications can easily arise, leading to frustration and conflict.

Create culture awareness in the team

To address this challenge of cultural difference and the need to work around such difference, it is important to invest in cultural awareness and sensitivity training for managers and employees. This might involve providing resources such as books or online courses on cross-cultural communication, as the speaker in the video did. It might also involve hosting workshops or training sessions led by experts in intercultural communication.

One key aspect of this training should be the importance of context in communication. As the speaker explains, even when two teams are using the same language, differences in context can lead to misunderstandings. For example, a phrase that might be intended as a compliment in one culture might be interpreted as criticism in another culture. Understanding these differences requires a deep appreciation for the cultural norms and values that shape communication styles in different parts of the world.

Create an environment of trust

Another important aspect of managing a multicultural team is building trust and rapport among team members. When people come from different cultures, they may have different expectations about how to build relationships and establish trust. For example, in some cultures, it may be important to spend time getting to know someone on a personal level before discussing business matters, while in others, business may be the focus from the outset. Understanding these differences can help managers to build stronger relationships with team members and foster a sense of camaraderie and trust.

We’ve written extensively about this in the past, as we feel that this is one that that makes thing much simpler to solve cross cultural issues. Some of our tips can be found in this article about how to build trust in your remote team by team gelling or this one about creating the right team culture for companies with remote teams.

Find what works the best for you

It is important to recognize that managing a multicultural team is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Different cultures have different expectations around communication, hierarchy, and decision-making, among other things. Effective managers must be able to adapt to these differences and find ways to accommodate the needs and preferences of each team member. This might involve using different communication tools for different team members, or adjusting work schedules to accommodate different time zones.

Careful about what expressions you use

It's important to be aware that expressions that you might use in your language or cultural context might not be understood at all or even worse understood with the opposite meaning by your remote team. It is vital for team managers (and team members) to consider cultural differences when communicating with people from other backgrounds. It's also a good idea to clarify the meaning of an expression if you think it may be misunderstood. Here’s our list of common English expressions that just doesn’t cross the language and culture basriers well. We call it the expressions to avoid cheat-sheet!

"Break a leg" - This one never works. In most non-English cultures, wishing someone luck by saying "break a leg" is considered bad luck or even offensive. Actually if you think about it really weird that this expression has the meaning it has, here’s the Wikipedia post giving it’s history.

"Bite the bullet" - This expression means to endure a painful or difficult situation, but in some cultures, the literal meaning of biting a bullet can be confusing or offensive.

"Spill the beans" - This expression means to reveal a secret, but in some cultures, the idea of spilling beans may not make sense or may be seen as wasteful. I remember once one of our customers used this expression in the context of asking his team not to reveal software features anyone and the look of confusion in the team was very interesting!

"Piece of cake" - This expression means that something is easy, but it almost always fails to translate well.

"Going Dutch" - This expression means to split the bill, but in some cultures, the idea of going Dutch may be unfamiliar or seen as impolite.

"Skeletons in the closet" - This expression means to have secrets or embarrassing information, but to someone not used to the expression the idea of keeping skeletons in a closet would not make sense at all!

"Costs an arm and a leg" - This expression means that something is very expensive, but in some cultures, the idea of comparing something to body parts may be seen as distasteful.

"Cat got your tongue?" - This expression means to ask someone why they are not speaking or responding, but this one never works either for obvious reasons.

"Let the cat out of the bag" - This expression means to reveal a secret, but the idea of a cat being in a bag may not make sense or may be seen as cruel for non English speakers.

Common mistakes that new software companies make and how to avoid them

Starting a new software product can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to the world startups and software. While every new business journey is unique, there are some common mistakes that many founders make. After helping companies big and small - from Fortun500 beasts to one person startups, we think we’ve seen it all! In this blog today, we will discuss the some of common mistakes that we see over and over and also give some tips on how to avoid them.

Not knowing your customer

One of the biggest mistakes that software product leadership make is not knowing their customer. Notice I’ve kept the term very generic, “software product leadership”, and that’s because this mistake is made by startup founders as well as product teams in well established software outfits! It is important to have a clear understanding of who your target customer is and what their pain points are. This will help you develop a product or service that addresses their needs and provides value. Take the time to conduct market research and talk to potential customers to gather feedback and insights. Remember that the software you are making is not for you (well it may well be, but you are probably not its only user). So make sure your biases and fascinations don’t guide the software requirements. Find out out the real customers, find out their actual needs - their needs may not be at all like yours. We recently posted a detailed strategy of finding what features you should plan on your software - worth reading that too if you are considering this point. Also worth a read is another recent post about finding customers for a software product.

Not having transparent conversations with your co-founders

Co-founder relationships are critical to the success of any startup or a software product launch. It is important to have open and transparent conversations about roles, responsibilities, and goals. Without clear communication, resentment can build up, and the relationship can deteriorate. Make sure to have well-organized conversations that are designed to share how you feel about the current situation of the company, how it's organized, and who is responsible for what.

Not launching

Many startups are afraid to launch because they think they need to be fully ready before they can get in the press or be on popular blogs. However, launching is not as significant an event to your users as it is to you. If you think about it, how many famous platform do you remember being launched? We only find out about a new product once it starts getting traction - think Facebook, think LinkedIn and think if you ever heard them at launch time… most likely not! It is important to move up the launch as soon as possible to get your product in front of customers. This will help you validate whether it solves their problem and give you the feedback you need to improve. Remember the minimum viable product (MVP) way of doing things. With an MVP you move to a faster launch and a faster way to more feedback. A long time back we posted on our blog an article about how every software company should launch with an MVP and it’s one our most read articles.

Not using analytics

Measuring what your users do when they come to your site is critical to improving your product. It is important to track your website analytics and user behavior to understand what is being used and what is not. This will help you make data-driven decisions and prioritize features that are important to your customers.

Not prioritizing the actual product!

Startups often prioritize sizzle over the actual steak! I mean they make more fuss about various things around the product than the actual product itself, such as hiring, press, and conferences, over getting the product out there and talking to users. However, the actual work of startups is pushing product, getting it in the users' hands, and seeing if they like it. Prioritize getting your product in front of your customers, gathering feedback, and iterating on it to make improvements.

These are some of the most common mistakes that we see many companies make. While it is possible to be successful even if you make these mistakes, it is important to minimize them as much as possible to improve your odds of success. Good luck!

Choosing the features of your software product

A common question from our software customers are “how do you choose which features to add in the software?”. See the problem in most cases isn’t a lack of feature ideas, it more a problem of too many feature ideas. And there are two good reasons for not trying to add every feature you can think of into your software:

• Too many features confuses your users and reduces software use and thus sales.

• Features are expensive to build and maintain (of course!).

So software product management is the science (and some would argue an art) of finding the right features and prioritizing them based on the needs of the business. Having worked with hundreds of software projects over the years with companies tiny to massive we’ve come up with some strategies that seems to work most of the time, and today’s post is about those strategies. However, something remember in this space is that every software product is different, not just in it’s domain but also in the type of end users and their worldly problem the software is trying to solve. So always view these strategies with the filter of your particular niche to figure out what needs to be different for your particular product.

The 80/20 rule works for product features too

The Pareto principle otherwise known as the 80/20 rule says that: “… for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes”. Put in the context of this post’s topic it translates to: 20% of the features you have in your full blown software would server 80% of the real use cases of that software. And if this was true, if you could do only those 20% features, you’d really be ready with a software that was good enough for 80% of your user’s needs!

Now the Pareto principle might be one of those rule of thumbs laws, but there seems to be some hard data that points to the truth of this principle in the world of software. A good source of such data is the Chaos report that the Standish group runs around the software industry. In one of the first studies they did for software feature usage back in 1996, they looked at 100 custom applications to look at the functions and features requested, implemented, and used.

Here’s what they found in their own words: “The study was done in two steps.

STEP 1: We took an inventory of each feature and function.

STEP 2: We held user workshops to find out which features were used.

We learned that only 7% of features were always used, another 13% were often used, 16% were sometimes used, 19% were rarely used, and 45% were never used. The study was very long, difficult, and expensive. Using some automated tools and spot checks every couple of years, we found, to no surprise, that the numbers are relatively unchanged for most methodologies. Our current thinking is that 20% of features are often used and 50% of features are hardly ever or never used. “

So finding those 20% features, or as sometimes described as the “vital few” features are very important. Those features will need be prioritized and built first. And if doing them requires you to ditch many others accept that as price to pay.

The question is of course how to find those 20% vital few. And the next few strategies help you zero in on those features.

Use user group feedback to prioritize

At the end software is being built for users. So it should be users who identify the most important features (those vital few 20%). With this principle in mind you need to aim to arrange a user group that consists of “typical” users of your software. So for example, if you are making an HR software, your user group should be HR staff of various companies. It’s usually easy to recruit the users from your own company (you might need to tempt them with food and drinks!) but you should definitely try to get some people from outside of your company too. The reason being that you are looking for diversity of views - things are probably done in different ways at different companies and the more variety of input you get is the best. Once you form a user group, setup up events (ideally physical events where people can relax and talk) where you invite the group members and seek feedback from them about your software features. Here are some ideas for gather data:

• Run a demo of the software (even if they are just mockup pictures) and then ask people to vote for each features. Count the number of hands going up (or even formal votes in paper or apps) and decide how popular are the features.

• Setup a survey and ask people to fill in (not the best for people, but really good for you, so you might have to bribe them with food and drinks or prizes!).

• Show a single feature and then explain how it solves the problem they are having and then ask them if it really does solve the problem. Be ready to be surprised by the debate that sometimes arises from this! Make sure you are tracking all the feedback. The more people have strong views about a certain problem the more important that feature is (the vital few!).

• Play a game that let’s people select certain features. This could be a game of throwing a ball into baskets with names of different features with a plan that you’ll put that in the working list (and you are looking at which baskets people are most interested in. Here’s a great game idea called the “buy a feature” where you give the users monopoly money and tell them to go feature shopping!

Use tracking data to find user interest

This is idea is one of the best approaches for a data driven decision making on software product features. The concept simple, track which features of the app users use the most or has the most interest in. Usually it’s done in two distinct phases:

Before product release

This is where you are thinking of which features to add in your as yet unbuilt product (or unbuilt new version of the product, i.e. you’ve got a product out and planning for the next update of the product). So in this scenario you don’t have a way to track the actual use of the feature (as it’s not yet built) so you have track user interest in descriptions of the product. One common way of doing it is having a list of upcoming product features in your webpage and then using a visitor analytics tool like Google Analytics to track user visits and clicks about those features. A really cool way of getting a much richer analytics than pure visit counts is to look at how much time people spent on a certain page, where they tried to click the most (or had their mouse) with a web page heatmap tool like Hotjar.

For a great example of how new features can be talked about is Trello’s page about upcoming features for their big redo back in 2021. Note that Trello can be quite verbose as it has a very dedicated user group who have been using Trello for sometime and has direct interest in reading through details. Your brand new app might not have that level of interest for visitor on your site, so you are likely to have a much shorter attention span and images are your best route in gathering user interest. Have large screen mockups (the ones you preparing for the feature description anyway) on your page with short but punchy intros for them. And then use your cool trackers to find out if users are actually spending time looking at the pictures at all.

After product release

Once you have your software up and running you have much better way of tracking user interest. You should setup analytics tools that report usage of different features and sub-features. Any upcoming feature should be planned based on areas where the usage is the most. You can also have features that are not with all the bells and whistles but at least gets the user to do part of their task with them. And then you could see the interest and usage on those features to decide if the next version should have a more complete version of that feature area. An example for this approach could be say an HR software planning to introduce an ID card generation tool - being an HR software it has all the data, so generating ID cards ready to send to a printer might be a great tool (or it may not be at all!). So one way to test this could be to give a card generation option that just gets a plain vanilla card out. Now if the tracking shows that many users actually tried that feature out that would a signal for the company to invest development time in creating well designed ID cards (maybe with options for adding color, company logo and other custom design options too).

Use public forums, reviews and discussion groups for finding pain points

This is another time honored way of finding priority features for your product. The process is to first identify a list of public forums, discussion groups, review sites that are roughly in the same space as your product. And then painstakingly go through those discussions to find common themes that people are complaining about either because there are no products out there that does what people are looking for or the existing tools are just bad. By finding common themes and by looking at the volume within those themes you are essentially finding the “pain points” that need solving in your product space. And this research can give the data for prioritizing what pain point needs solving more than others. That leads to your feature list!

This a common process that many big companies use themselves to identify feature enhancements. Microsoft’s strategy for a long time was to launch a half baked product and use the product forums to find where people are complaining the most and fix and enhance those (and only those)! But leaving the giants aside, the research in discussion forums is absolutely essential for any feature planning. The best thing about this approach is that the data is already out there, you don’t have to invest time and money is building out tools, wait for data to come in and then make those analysis.

Product development is expensive and it takes up precious time and energy. It is very important for spending your limited resources at the right places. Choosing the right features in your product road map and getting them built in stages in synch with usage and interest is one of the key aspects of making a great product.

Finding customers for your software applications

Every startup with work with has this question for us: “what are your tips about finding our first customers?”. It’s a really good question and one that every founder should ask even before she starts thinking about how the software will work. At the end of the - no customers is equal to a failed software venture, and it really doesn’t matter how great your software was and how it solve the is world’s problems. However, it’s never an easy question, as the answers vary widely dependent on what the software is about. But over the years, we have seen some strategies that work well and some don’t. And some of those strategies are generic enough to work for pretty much any product. Here are some of our best ones.

Start your PR right from the beginning

Even before a single line of code is written for your software, even before the designers had a chance to imagine the look and feel of your software and even before you seriously thought about making the software (!) you should start you PR campaign! And your PR campaign doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just talking about your plans about launching this new and awesome software in various public spaces (and private ones) is a good start. Here are somethings that you should start right away as a minimum:

• Website, duh…

• Social media assets, stuff like Facebook page, Instagram profile, twitter handle and LinkedIn page. Maybe a youtube channel if you are good with videos and even a Tiktok one!)

• Blog, blog and blog ideally on your own domain as it will build up your site’s status with Google - the earlier you start the better for your SEO later on.

• Posts in public forums such as Quora, Reddit and LinkedIn conversations.

• email all your friends and family telling them about how your software will change the world.

Create a list of potential “first“ customers

Of course! But I’m talking about creating this list while the software is being built. The idea is that you can then start reaching out to them for connection and networking and eventually for early adoption. Remember that most of your initial customers will only be trying your product out because they will feel obliged to - maybe because you are their friend, colleague or have connected with them professionally and formed a good relationship. From this list most importantly you’ll get your pilot testers and early feedback sources. As your product matures this customer list will expand to proper marketing lists ending up into CRMs and marketing tools like Hubspot or Mailchimp.

Website with a subscribe for news option

You’ll obviously have a website right from the start! But at the start you may not have a lot of meat on your website. But at the least you should have enough of a story in there to get people interested and then what you want is an easy way for them to subscribe for alerts when the product comes out. This going to be one your sources of emails and contacts for the first possible customers. Two things that people get wrong about this type of “watch this space” sites:

1. Too generic information and graphics in fear that your competitors might steal your idea. Ideas are dime a dozen and it’s hard to steal and implement a software idea, so go with all the juicy bits about how your software will cure cancer and make everyone rich! Remember, people need to be interested enough to leave their email with you.

2. Too much information. This is the opposite of the number 1 point above, with the founders writing up page full our text (usually copied and pasted from the specification document or an investor’s pitch). Again, the goal is to make people interested enough to leave you their contact details. If you bore them with too much details, they probably won’t read the whole thing and just leave!

There are some great writeups about how to do these pages right, here’s a great one about effective yet simple coming soon pages. The sample image is from that site’s example,

Arrange events and meetups

Meetups and events are great for getting people together and talk about your product. It’s a great source of feedback and ideas and obviously it’s a great way of getting some publicity about your product. You should aim to invite potential customers and also users of your system. Get your development team to come over too if you can. It could be a great event where your potential users feel that they can ask for features they need and get them in the upcoming version of your product. Another important group to invite in these events are “influencers” - people who might talk about your product on their blogs, videos or amongst the their circle of friends. If you can get some press coverage that would be icing on the cake. The most important thing to remember about these meetups is the food! Make sure there are some good food around with loads of drinks and coffee. Food will get people to connect and linger. And good food will always leave a good feeling that carries over to people’s association with your product and brand. Here’s a great writeup about arranging launch events, which isn’t exactly your goal, but many of the ideas work equally well for product intro events too.