I was thinking about
Maslow's hierarchy of needs recently, and I began to wonder how it might apply to software. I thought that you could use the Hierarchy to guide how you build software, specifically how you prioritise work. Have a look at the diagram:
You can see here that the first thing we should do is make sure that the software is reliable (i.e. it does not crash). Next we should make sure that it is secure (i.e. hackers cannot steal data from it). User Stories that are Physiological or Safety related should be the highest priorities in any product backlog. With out these, the product may be saleable, but your customers will become very unhappy very quickly.
Next the software should deliver basic business value. Without this you cannot sell the product. Any piece of software will have a minimum feature set that is required to complete in a given marketplace. For example, any web browser should be able to display HTML 4.0 compliant web pages. These User Stories should immediately follow the Physiological and Safety User Stories in the Product Backlog.
The next item is to provide one or more unique features that give the software under development a competitive niche. For example, the web browser discussed above may have features to enable users to quickly search their bookmarks.
Finally, the software should become more than a few unique selling points and should become a product that leads the marketplace in strategic terms. This means that rather than just adding the facility to search bookmarks, the web browser should lead the market by implementing new features that change the way people use the Worl Wide Web.
It is always tempting to violate the hierarchy outlined above. The marketeers are always keen to see new features rather than a stable product. I believe that the key to delivering long-term happy customers is to get the basics right first.