Incrementalism utilizes resources to cut through seemingly endless complexity to create beautiful products and experiences that otherwise would be impossible.

Almost everyone is familiar with the majestic beauty of the Grand Canyon. Nothing exemplifies the beauty and power of incrementalism like this amazing creation. It’s the result of patience. Its the result of working one small step at a time. Its the result of a relatively small force being selective where to focus its efforts to achieve the desired outcome. Product teams have the opportunity to harness the same power to slowly and deliberately create big powerful products.

Doing more with less

Years ago, I had the unfortunate opportunity to help someone move a large piano. Before we started we decided on a path. Then four of us grabbed each corner with two additional people on the sides. And we lifted with all our might and taking the tiniest of steps slowly moved the piano to its new home. What would have taken more strength than any individual possessed, was possible working in small steps together.

In a perfect world, we would design and develop the perfect solution and drop it in seamlessly creating a joyous new product experience. There would be no disruption of service, no usability issues using the product. Online media would light up with rave reviews at this amazing leap forward and customers would flock to our product.

But back here in reality, sometimes moving in increments is the only way to get something done. And much of the time, moving in increments is the best way to get things done. This can be driven by monolithic and legacy systems, limited resources, or even lack of clarity regarding product direction.

Even large companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon do not have the resources to completely overhaul their applications on a regular basis. Most companies, having finite resources, have to be very strategic in regards to scaling their products. Provided they are building on an adequate framework (and sometimes using the term adequate very generously), teams can build out existing features and add new feature sets to the existing product.

The process often looks like creating a minimum viable feature for initial release. After initial feedback from early adopters, additional feature enhancement is layered on. Larger pieces can be chunked up (yes, that is the technical term), and smaller pieces can be released and tested as quickly as possible.

If done properly, the team overhauls necessary design and infrastructure as the need presents itself. Design and development debt is kept in check and resources are used strategically to balance work necessary to keep the product viable, healthy and growing.

Turning the aircraft carrier

Every designer dreams of the chance to design the hot new thing. That hyper-focused and modern application that catches fire. But with success, most products inevitably grow and mature. The lean and focused application scales and now how multiple interfaces. It connects with services which are also scaling and experiencing their own growth pains. Facebook, Google, Twitter, AirBnb, Etsy, Ebay-all these products that started with simple roots have grown enormously complex. Not to mention the huge monolithic systems at the heart of government and healthcare. New technology gets old and new user needs demand enhanced user experiences.

Most of the time, migrating onto new technology, updating the user interface, and releasing product enhancements can usually be accomplished one small step at a time. Great companies can release change in huge chunks. Google releasing its material theme across all of its products is a good example. But even a huge company like Google has to release over the course of multiple years. By the time the migration is complete, the next migration is already in planning and prepping for execution.

Incrementalism is often the best chance to move these platforms forward. It allows the effort to be broken down into smaller pieces that move technology and user experience in a positive direction.

Facebook, Amazon, and Google are popular examples of this approach. Rarely are there significant updates to the user experience, however, they are always iterating and moving the needle a bit at a time to continuously improve their product.

Learning as you go

Working iteratively embraces A/B testing, usability testing, and feedback based on an actual useable product rather than a mock-up or rough prototype. It is tempting as a designer to run out ahead and create full and robust experiences. But as a design process, keeping the user at the center is paramount and working iteratively provides the opportunity to do that before the product is too far along. This approach minimizes the risk of going off course and delivering a product that fails to provide value to your customers.

This learning applies to the product on a number of levels. It can apply to the desirability of feature enhancements. It can apply to the usability of the product. It can apply on a granular level to the usability of patterns and components. Rarely is anything designed and produced done exactly right. Its all a process of research, discovery, exploring and building. Incrementalism provides the perfect place for this process to take place.