wii fit for all

I have recently experienced first hand, and achy legged, the marvel that is wii fit.

But why is it so good, and what can we learn from it?

I personally feel that wii fit is close to software development perfection, and it is typically Japanese when you look at it closely. The concept of lean development has been adhered to very closely and the software is all the better for it. Rather than creating a behemoth of a software title with a huge range of unused or often intimidating features that pad out the product description on the box, Nintendo have delivered just enough functionality to engage with its intended audience. Why go to the trouble of recreating Olympic sports in all their glory when the average customer wants to use it to lose just a few pounds, going to the extreme would have immediately alienated most of the potential buyers.

You see, the point of software projects that Nintendo has excelled at delivering but remain a mystery to many in the industry, is that to do just enough will deliver value to the end consumer to make them want it at a price they can afford. Too often in IT, we try to deliver too many features in our solutions that offer little value to the customer, but we feel we are providing value because the packaging looks very interesting and bulky. We forget too easily that once the customer has started using the title they will tell us what adds value to them, the packaging, no matter how glossy will never dictate importance to the consumer and should never be used as a benchmark for project success.

In one simple statement;

The value of software does not increase in proportion to the number of features but will decrease in proportion to cost.

We should learn from this software example that consumers will only use the features that they want, and when they are offered in a simple package that does just enough, they can’t buy enough of it. If the title does what they want, for a price they are happy with then the customer will be happy. Introducing too many features makes development times much longer, costlier and the likelihood of bugs going out in the final customer release increases, most likely devaluing the product as anyone that had to install patch after patch on the latest video games will probably agree with.

If only all software projects were as successful as wii fit, maybe then IT would not have such a poor reputation.

Agile basecamp

Today I have been working on Agile basecamp, a new website aimed at getting experienced agile adopting or disliking professionals, to share their views and to help educate those involved in software development that there is an alternative to process heavy development.

If you would like to get involved in helping me develop this site over the coming months then please contact me by email at agilebasecamp@hallamsolutions.com.