So, you've just moved into a new, unfurnished apartment. Everything is a blank canvas, and you're the artist. You place your couch here, drop your bed there, and poof—you're done decorating, right? Hold on, Picasso. This is your first draft. It's equivalent to an MVP in the tech world—a Minimum Viable Product. MVPs are often intended to illustrate the capabilities of a product, but they're never the end game. Your first apartment draft will feel clunky as hell once you start actually "living" in it.
You realize the coffee maker should be on the kitchen counter so you can reach it half-asleep. You'll probably find that angling your bed 90 degrees frees up walking space. Congratulations, you're now iterating your "home design," much like how UI/UX works. You try things out, move them around, and observe how people—sometimes literally—navigate your layout.
We live in a hyper-speed world. There's this mad rush to get to market. The result? Version 1.0s that are really more like Version 0.1s. Trust me, that won't fly. The buzz around a product launch is great, but chances are, when that buzz dies down, you'll notice that some of that buzz was actually the buzzing of flies around the dookie that is your "V1." But hey, free fertilizer! It's just the start of your journey, not the end. Post-launch, you can't afford to rest on your laurels. The moment you think you're done is the moment you start to fail. Period.
Most of my clients hire me for what they think is the end game—getting to that coveted V1. The one that's ready to be put on stage and ogled by potential investors. But hold onto your money guns. Once you're past the initial hurdles, that's when the nuanced, finessed work starts. This is when you shift from broad strokes to fine details. Enjoying your honeymoon period is perfectly fine, but be aware that we're not done. (If the budget allows for it, at least. I don't work for free.)
Or whatever the actual saying is. The secret to a lasting, loved product is continuous optimization. Once you've grabbed attention with your brand identity and flashy V1, the real grind begins. It's time to polish, refine, and iterate. Keep that user feedback coming and act on it as if your product's life depends on it—because it does!
Remember, even evolution took time. Our ancestors managed to get around just fine, but humans? We evolved to stand up and employ gravity to save energy. That's freaking ingenious. Now, humans are optimized walking machines. Sure, it took ages, and we're still stuck with useless wisdom teeth, but progress is progress, right?
So, you've reached V1. You've probably had some bubbly to celebrate this monumental achievement. But let's get one thing straight: the work isn't done. Not by a long shot. Each post-launch tweak, each iteration, is a step toward a better, more intuitive product. Now go fix that "tiny" imperfection that's going to bother you more and more the longer you ignore it!