The problem of the waterfall effect, the so-called waterfall effect

In many companies, when implementing new solutions or software, there is a problem that significantly lengthens or even makes it impossible to complete the work. This is called waterfall effect (waterfall effect). The essence of the problem is to invent new functions, often unnecessary at a given moment or at all, by employees or the company's management.

The effect of this type of activity is adding newer and newer ideas for implementation, which results in increasing the time and costs of the project.

How to deal with this problem?

The solution is extremely simple. You should minimize the addition of new features and ideas for implementation.

A few rules to avoid waterfall effect:

• the most important thing is to define the MVP (minimum viable product), i.e. the version of the product that meets the minimum requirements and is ready to appear on the market
• Before starting the implementation works, make a detailed list of functions along with their priority
• when implementing, do not focus on the least important functions
• apply full criticism to new ideas and implement only those that have been fully accepted by the team
• do not copy unnecessary functions just because the competition has them