This document summarizes a failed software project and examines how to prevent such failures. The project aimed to automate a domain but struggled due to inexperience, poor quality, and lack of customer input. It launched in 2010 but failed to meet customer expectations. By 2016, it was commercially dead. The project failed because it did not provide valuable software that solved customer problems or achieved product-market fit. The document recommends taking a lean startup approach of quickly validating customer needs through actionable feedback and experimentation to identify fit and deliver valuable software.

1. We Built It, They Didn’t
Come
A post-mortem of a failed project, and an
examination of how to prevent such
disasters in future.
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 1

2.  “If you build it, he will come.”
- Field of Dreams
 “If you book them, they will come.”
- Wayne’s World
…but product development is not
like the movies.
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 2

3. Project Background
 Domain expert, not software
developer
 Vision to automate the domain -
reducing time, resources and costs
 Commercial enterprise software
(B2B)
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 3

4. Ingredients for Agile
Development
 a Product Owner
 prioritised backlog
 daily stand-up scrums
 Scrum board with Post-It notes
 burn-down chart
 regular sprints
 sprint reviews & retrospectives
 a Scrum Master
 an actual product
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 4

5. Project Disease Symptoms
 organisation inexperienced in
software development
 poor quality staff
 poor attention to quality
 poor communication within the team
 mismatched expectations
 cancerous growth rate
 limited customer input
 unverified customer input
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 5

6. Project Timeline
 2008
◦ The vision!
 2009
◦ Search for offshore outsource partner
◦ Recruited overseas, moved
development to Singapore
◦ Prototype developed & used for
demos to investors
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 6

7. Project Timeline
 2010
◦ Public launch
◦ Release to internal users
◦ Sale to Customer A
 Bought as-is
◦ Sale to Customer B
 Long list of customer-dictated features &
deadlines agreed by Sales and PM
◦ PM leaves
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 7

8. Project Timeline
 2011
◦ Customer B
 Entire development focus
 Inevitable failure to meet expectations
◦ Customer A
 Not using the product
◦ Internal users
 Minimal support
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 8

9. Project Timeline
 2012
◦ Customer A
 Did not extend contract
◦ Customer B
 Only used by one evaluator
 Strained negotiations to salvage contract
◦ Customer C
 Bought as-is
◦ Internal users
 Minimal support
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 9

10. Project Timeline
 2013
◦ Customer C
 Strained contract negotiations, ended
support
◦ Customer B
 Final payment, no support
◦ Prospect D
 Entire development focus on tender
◦ Internal users
 Minimal support
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 10

11. Project Timeline
 2014
◦ Internal users
 Sole remaining customer
◦ New PO & product vision?
 2015
◦ Last ditch sales effort
◦ Internal users
 2016
◦ Commercial death
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 11

12. What Killed the Project?
 A couple of paying customers were
found
◦ Only interested in a sub-set of the
features from the vision
◦ Interested in having more features
related to that sub-set
◦ Relationships soured because of
mismatched expectations for delivery
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 12

13. What Killed the Project?
 Collectively produced poor quality
product
Slow to make changes
Developed demonstration features
which continued to be maintained
Waste became a drag on development
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 13

14. What is Software Development
For?
 Agile Manifesto principles:
◦ “Our highest priority is to satisfy the
customer through early and
continuous delivery of valuable
software.”
http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 14

15. What is Software Development
For?
 Modern Agile principles:
◦ “Make people awesome”
http://modernagile.org/
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 15

16. What is Valuable Software?
 Working software
 Wanted software
◦ Product-market fit?
◦ Problem-solution fit?
◦ Is the problem worth solving?
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 16

17. What Killed the Project?
 The project failed to provide
valuable software
 …it failed to provide a product
which fit the market
 …it failed to provide a sufficient
solution to a problem
 It failed to react to this
information
 It failed to learn early and often
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 17

18. What to do Differently?
 Quickly identify if a solution to a
customer problem is sufficiently
valuable
 Repeat
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 18

19. Lean Startup
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 19

20. Project = Startup
 "a human institution designed to
create a new product or service
under conditions of extreme
uncertainty“
- Eric Ries
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 20

21. Lean Startup
 Actionable feedback
 No vanity metrics
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 21

22. Modern Agile Principles
 “Experiment and Learn Rapidly”
http://modernagile.org/
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 22

23.  Identify the target customer
 Ask
 Observe
 Measure
 Test
 Repeat
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 23

24. Conclusions
 The project died because it failed to
deliver valuable software
 Poor quality delivery left the project
unwell
 Not actively identifying product-
market fit left the project fatally
wounded
 If your project is not delivering value,
change course, jump ship or enjoy
the ride
© Duncan K G Campbell 2016 24