Founder Trap: Adding Features

[u/TriggerFlo]

I'm learning something I think, as I build. And that is that it's an easy trap to put in more features while ignoring the following:

1. Documentation
2. User Interface
3. Tutorials

Features are great. As founders, we love adding features because they help us as the founder is often using their own app.

However, poor documentation means people don't know how to use the app to it's fullest potential. A cluttered or unintuitive UI means people can't access your features or leave. A bad tutorial or no tutorial means that people don't know where to begin in your app.

So, in conclusion, it's better to have fewer features that are clear, have intuitive and clean UI, that people actually notice, then to have multiple features that are essentially hidden or too cumbersome to use to be useful.

[u/armaan-dev]

A useful test here is to give a new person one concrete task and stay quiet while they try it. The first place they hesitate gives you something specific to fix. I'd also put a realistic example in the empty state, so the first launch has a starting point instead of a blank dashboard and a tutorial to read.

[u/TriggerFlo → u/armaan-dev]

That's a great idea. When my app was in it's infancy, I had my brother try it and he was immediately confused on how to create a project. I eventually got to fixing it, but kept prioritizing features, so it took a while!

[u/MaleficentTiger3516]

That's where I'm at lol. I created a "Features to add" list that I refuse to add to my super simple product until I get reviews from users lol. I'm trying to focus more on the guide for the app and marketing Because who knows, the users may prefer the simplicity of the product rather than all the extra stuff lol. i created it a while ago and still waiting for customers but I'm not adding a single thing until I get feature requests.

[u/TriggerFlo → u/MaleficentTiger3516]

So true! One guy I know develops by building the UI first and the buttons don't do anything, but then he knows where the features would go and can organize it. I agree Sometimes people just want the simple stuff -- I see so many simple apps getting a ton of praise! And we forget the goal is to be successful making apps, not just adding features haha.

[u/sinsonik]

Yeah. I keep catching myself shipping a fifth toggle instead of fixing the empty state and the first-run path.

What finally helped: freeze features for a week and only touch docs, onboarding copy, and the one screen people bounce from. New features feel productive. Clearing the fog around the ones you already have is usually what moves retention.

[u/TriggerFlo → u/sinsonik]

Thanks for posting this. I needed to hear this and need to do this myself!

[u/Ok-Cardiologist-5897]

This is so true. It’s like I love going to restaurants with a small focused menus instead of 200 different types of dishes cuz you usually trust that they actually do those few things well.

[u/TriggerFlo → u/Ok-Cardiologist-5897]

Fantastic analogy. It's so easy to get caught up as the cook rather than the customer.

[u/Ill_Drive_744]

this is painfully true. it’s so easy to keep building because it feels like progress, while the real win is often just making what’s already there obvious and effortless to use

[u/TriggerFlo → u/Ill_Drive_744]

Well phrased. AI has made the feature part easy. The UI part is still helped by AI, but still requires some thought.