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The 'Good Enough' Principle

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This suggests that consumers will use a product that is 'good enough' for their needs, so it is unnecessary to strive for perfection with a design's first iteration

During development, a designer's default approach is often to strive for perfection. But the 'good enough' principle suggests that doing so is too costly - both in time and money - and that perfectionism increases the risk of a competitor releasing a similar product first and stealing market share.

This principle assumes that consumers will use a product that meets a vital user need, regardless of how it looks or the quality of its functionality. If the product does a great job of its core function, users will utilize it.

Once the basic new product has been released, designers can begin to harvest real. immensely useful customer data and feedback early on. With this information, they can improve and refine the product as they go.

Google, Microsoft and Facebook 'good enough' approach in action: since their first iteration, these companies have consistently refined and improved their platforms based on consumer data and feedback.

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