Running against the ticking clock, you may find yourself pushing to get your digital product in the market as quickly as possible. But in this accelerated timeline, you are most likely losing sleep over the potential areas for compromise.
Unfortunately, rushing to market often comes at a costly price. From ruining your brand reputation to losing investments, the implications can be severe. So, in this race, what are the essential areas that should never be compromised? And what are those areas where some wiggle room could apply?
1. User Experience (UX)
Your brand proposition has its emotional life and enduring engagement through your customers’ experience, and that’s first and foremost expressed through your UX design.
The user's digital experience of your product is the heart of the matter. It directly correlates with your brand image and the product’s success. Whether it is an application or a website, the user should find simple navigation, intuitive design, and an overall smooth journey.
Ignoring this pivotal element can make your customers frustrated and, consequently, churn – lost forever to your business. A Salesforce study found that 66% of customers expect businesses to understand their needs.
Use your valuable time to run usability tests and ensure that your digital product offers a seamless, user-friendly experience before you press the release button. There’s no compromise here!
2. Security
No corners should be cut when it comes to the robustness of your digital product's security. A single breach can not only cause financial damage but also gravely impact your brand reputation.
As per a Cybint report, 95% of cybersecurity breaches result from human errors. Your responsibility is to reduce this possibility as much as you can. Encrypt data, apply adequate access controls, regularly update and patch systems for fortifying your product against attempted compromises.
3. Compliance
If your new digital product doesn't comply with relevant legal laws and industry regulations, the repercussions could be disastrous leading to penalties, fines, and in extreme cases, a complete shut-down.
Ensure that from GDPR to the Data Protection Act and any industry-specific rules, your product ticks every compliance box. This due diligence is crucial, and any miss can cause severe damages to your brand.
4. Scalability
Do not compromise on the product's scalability. This is the key to fueling your business's growth effectively as your workload increases. If your software or hardware infrastructure can't handle an increased amount of work, it would lead to lower performance and potentially product failure.
Innovative frameworks like cloud-native ensure that your product remains scalable. As a result, you can retain high performance and consistent reliability, irrespective of user growth.
However, while these core elements are non-negotiable, there is one area where some flexibility is allowed:
5. Launch Features
Even though it sounds counterintuitive, every feature you initially thought of does not need to be there at launch. Piling up the functionalities will not only extend your deployment timeline indefinitely but also make it harder for users to grasp.
Instead, launch the product with your most innovative and necessary features keeping some for future updates. This agile approach – or the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) model – keeps your timelines intact. Alongside it brings in user feedback early to guide your next steps.
Yes, the competition is fierce, and speed is vital in today's fast-paced digital space. But certain elements must not be compromised. After all, haste can make waste. It’s better to be a bit late but with a full-proof secure digital product that offers an amazing user experience and complies with regulations. That's the winning mantra.
