Frankly my dear, give a damn!

Over the past few years, I have spent dozens of hours talking to indie developers about their ideas and ways to bring them to life. Part of these discussions included demos of prototypes, pitch decks, concept art and much more. One thing stood out from all those conversations - these developers deeply cared about their product. It was what they thought about all day, every day, often for years. And they obsessed over every aspect of it. The only way to standout in a competitive market is to "give a damn" and build something that is unique, engaging and of the highest possible quality. This degree of obsession and care can get lost in org structure and bureaucracy in larger organizations. While larger companies have more resources, the “give a damn” attitude is a little rarer, sometimes due to the larger scope and diffused ownership and other times due to mismatched incentives.

Recently, I was invited to an internal panel discussion on product quality and one thing I said resonated with the audience, “The key is to give a damn about what we create, be it hardware or software. By focusing on customer experience, we can increase value and engagement, creating a positive cycle.”

Product Quality isn't just about meeting specifications; it's about exceeding user expectations, ensuring reliability, and building trust with your audience. Consider the last time you used a product that consistently performed well. It becomes an integral part of your life. The magic of product quality is in when you don't notice it. Because it just works. And this is the kind of experience that triggers the virtuous cycle.

There are real challenges in maintaining quality - pressure to reduce costs resulting in cheaper materials when it comes to hardware, first-to-market pressure, product complexity esp in v1 products, deep understanding of user behavior to build robust test plans and more. While there are many strategies to achieving consistent and robust product quality, I think two of them are foundational -

1. A deeply ingrained quality culture that truly believes in shipping a great product and maintaining the high standards throughout the lifecycle. And an organization that recognizes and rewards it.

2. A commitment to testing and continuous improvement to periodically review and update processes based on feedback and data.

Ultimately, product quality makes or breaks a product and the organization itself. Investing and believing in product quality is really the only way to success. And it starts with fostering a culture where every single employee deeply cares about it and “gives a damn”.