What is a Feature Factory?
Table of Contents: Definition – Causes and reasons – Dangers – Tips – Questions from the field – Notes
Feature factory – when output is more important than outcome
There are companies where product teams are evaluated based on their delivery speed: How many features have been developed? How often is a new release published? But when the focus is on quantity instead of quality, there is a risk of falling into a dangerous trap: the feature factory.
A feature factory churns out functions without really asking whether they are needed. Often, the connection to the user is missing, the strategy is unclear, and long-term added value takes a back seat. The result is cluttered, confusing products with features that are rarely or never used.
The biggest problem with this is that it is the actual users who pay the price. They receive a product that is becoming increasingly complicated without providing them with any real benefit. Instead of relevant solutions, they get a growing list of features that are often not intuitive or that do not meet their needs. This reduces satisfaction while increasing frustration and churn – a risk that many companies underestimate.
Causes and reasons for feature factories
A feature factory rarely comes about through malicious intent. Rather, it is the result of structural and cultural problems that often develop insidiously in companies. The pressure to continuously deliver new features and functions overrides strategic considerations, and over time, teams lose sight of the actual value of their work. But what causes companies to fall into this trap?
One decisive factor is pressure from the management level. Management expects regular updates and new releases – not necessarily because they are derived from a clear product strategy, but because there is a feeling that constant innovation is a sign of progress. The question of whether a feature adds real value for users often takes a back seat. Instead of long-term product development, the focus is on short-term visibility.
In addition, sales teams have a significant influence on development. Features are not developed because users actively request them or because they solve existing problems, but because they sell well. An impressive feature set can convince potential customers, regardless of whether the features are actually used or appreciated in practice. This sales logic leads to products becoming increasingly bloated, with no clear line in sight.
Another problem is short-term key performance indicators for product teams. Instead of measuring the actual impact of a feature on user behaviour or business success, simple metrics such as the number of releases or the speed of development are used. Teams work under pressure to deliver as much as possible in as short a time as possible – a way of thinking that often undermines long-term product quality and sustainable added value.
Closely related to this is the lack of a clear product vision. Without a strategic direction, new features are developed based on gut feeling or individual customer requests, rather than on a sound analysis of real user problems. This leads to unsystematic product growth, where the number of functionalities increases, but they do not necessarily complement each other in a meaningful way.
What’s more, many teams are under constant time pressure. The focus is on bringing new features to market as quickly as possible, while there is hardly any time for improving existing solutions or validating ideas. The result is poorly developed features that are rarely revised or optimised after their introduction.
Another symptom of the feature factory is working in silos. Product management, development and design often operate independently of each other instead of working closely together. A lack of coordination leads to teams setting different priorities and working at cross purposes. Without a continuous exchange between the disciplines, there is no holistic perspective of the product and its users.
Last but not least, growing technical debt also plays a crucial role. The urge to deliver new features faster and faster often comes at the expense of code quality. Technical debt arises when clean, maintainable code is neglected in favour of short-term development speed. In the long term, this leads to inefficient processes, declining development productivity and an increasing amount of work for maintenance and troubleshooting.
All these factors combined put companies in a vicious circle: they develop more and more features without questioning whether they are actually needed. The focus shifts from user-centred innovation to simply working through an endless list of features. To escape this trap, you have to consciously pause, question your own development process and refocus on what really matters – real added value for users.
The dangers of the feature factory
At first glance, a constant stream of new features may seem productive, but this impression is deceptive. What looks like success is often just an illusion of progress – a deceptive dynamic that does more harm than good in the long term.
One of the biggest risks is that the product becomes more complicated and confusing with each new function. Users are confronted with a growing number of features that they neither need nor understand. What was once an intuitive product becomes increasingly unwieldy, cumbersome and cluttered. Instead of clear user guidance, a labyrinth of options emerges in which even experienced users can get lost. In some products, the actual strengths such as simplicity and user-friendliness are gradually lost.
What’s more, many of the developed features are hardly used, if at all. Functions that have been discussed in long meetings, developed at full speed and finally published with pride, languish unnoticed in the depths of the software. The time and money that went into this development might as well have been burned. But even worse than the sheer waste of resources is the lack of reflection: no one questions why features are not being used, and so the cycle continues.
At the same time, the product gradually loses its strategic direction. It no longer develops along a clear, overarching goal, but grows in random directions – driven by the short-term desires of individual stakeholders or the need to fill the next roadmap. Without a consistent vision, the product strategy loses its focus and the product loses its unique selling point. Instead of solving a clear problem, it tries a little of everything – and nothing properly.
Working in a feature factory is also frustrating for developers. Those who constantly implement features without ever knowing whether they have a positive impact will lose motivation at some point. Software development is more than just mindlessly working through a to-do list – it thrives on creativity, problem solving and real user impact. However, when every attempt to improve the product gets lost in the flood of new features, your work feels meaningless. Highly qualified specialists who are passionate about creating products become demotivated and often look for companies where they can have a real influence.
Even more dangerously, the feature factory undermines a company’s competitiveness. While you are busy throwing new features onto the market, smarter competitors are working to solve real customer problems. They analyse user behaviour, experiment with new solutions and optimise their products in a targeted manner. So while a feature factory is internally busy with itself, it secretly loses market share to more agile, customer-focused companies.
The feature factory is therefore not only an inefficient way of developing products – it is a creeping poison for companies. It creates the illusion of progress while bloating the product, demotivating developers and weakening the market position. Those who want to be successful in the long term must break away from the mere production of new features and concentrate on what really counts: developing solutions that offer real added value.
Tips for avoiding feature factories
Companies that want to break away from pure feature production and create real added value for their users must consciously take countermeasures. This includes several targeted measures:
- Every feature should have a clear rationale. Before a function is developed, it is necessary to ask which specific problem it solves and what benefit it brings for the user. Without a convincing answer, development is not useful.
- A roadmap should not just be a collection of planned features, but should be based on overarching goals. Only if each new feature is embedded in a long-term strategy will the product remain consistent and purposeful.
- Users should be actively involved in the development process. Direct conversations, regular feedback and data-driven decisions help to understand real needs, rather than developing features based only on assumptions.
- Success should not be measured by how many features have been delivered. It is more important to understand the actual impact of new features – for example, through metrics such as usage frequency, customer feedback or their contribution to key business and product goals.
- Existing solutions must be regularly evaluated and improved. Often, the greatest added value does not lie in additional features, but in optimising existing functions to make them simpler, more intuitive and more effective.
- Quality standards should be consciously defined and adhered to. Sustainable development also means reducing technical debt and ensuring long-term maintainable, scalable code, instead of adding new features to an unstable foundation.
- Product teams should not only implement features, but also have the right to critically question requirements autonomously. They should be able to make their own decisions and reject features if they do not offer clear added value.
- Agility should not be confused with rapid development. It is not about delivering releases in ever shorter cycles, but about improving the product iteratively and in a targeted manner by incorporating real user feedback into further development.
Those who consistently implement these principles can free themselves from the feature factory trap and create a product that impresses not through quantity, but through real, sustainable added value.
Questions from the field
Here are some questions and answers from the field:
How do you recognise a feature factory?
Teams working in a feature factory often follow similar patterns. Certain signs indicate that the focus is no longer on the actual benefit for customers, but on the pure production of new features. These symptoms show that the company is in danger of losing sight of the added value:
A central feature is that new features are developed and published without questioning whether they are of any real benefit to users. There is no in-depth analysis or validation; instead, assumptions are made that are rarely checked. The team has little or no direct contact with the people who actually use the product. Decisions are therefore not based on well-founded feedback, but on internal considerations or business interests that do not necessarily align with user needs.
Another symptom is the role of the product owner, who in a feature factory is often limited to the mere collection and management of requirements. Instead of developing a strategic product vision and actively questioning which features are really relevant, he or she acts as an intermediary between stakeholders and the development team – without involving the actual target group. This results in products that are considered ‘finished’ internally, but in practice fail to meet the actual expectations of users.
Measuring success is also problematic: a team’s progress is not measured by whether a feature has a positive impact or solves a problem, but simply by the number of features delivered. The credo is: more is better – regardless of whether the features are actually used or appreciated. This way of thinking is also evident in the roadmap, which often consists of an endless list of planned features, without pursuing a clear strategic direction or overarching goals.
Another common pattern is how features that have already been released are handled. In a feature factory, new functions are developed, delivered – and then often ignored. There are no iterative improvements, no targeted monitoring of whether the function is actually used, let alone consistent further development based on real user feedback. As a result, the product grows uncontrollably, becoming increasingly complex and confusing, without the user experience improving.
In the long term, these symptoms cause products to become bloated, difficult to understand and inefficient. Users feel overwhelmed or ignored, while the company invests resources in developments that hardly create any real added value. A rethink is therefore urgently needed – away from pure feature production and towards user-centred product development that focuses on real problems and sustainable solutions.
What role do product owners and scrum masters play in a feature factory?
In a feature factory, the product owner and scrum master often end up in dysfunctional roles that contradict their actual purpose. Instead of further developing the product in a targeted manner and promoting agile principles, they become driven by a pure feature throughput.
The product owner tends to act more as a pure requirements manager or as a ‘proxy’ for stakeholders, rather than representing a clear product vision. They collect requirements, prioritise backlogs and delegate tasks without really questioning whether a function makes sense. There is a lack of direct contact with users, decisions are not made on the basis of real feedback, and often they don’t even have the authority to reject requirements even if they don’t offer any recognisable added value. As a result, product development degenerates into a mere to-do list instead of targeted design with a strategic vision.
In a feature factory, the Scrum Master often focuses only on making the development process as efficient as possible. His main tasks seem to be removing obstacles, moderating meetings and optimising the ‘feature flow’. But this misses the true essence of Scrum: the point is not to deliver more and more features faster, but to create valuable products. Instead of supporting the Product Owner in developing a strong vision or empowering the team to solve real problems, the Scrum Master gets stuck in the role of a process manager.
To escape this trap, both roles should ideally be strengthened and realigned. The Product Owner should act as a visionary product designer who sets a clear direction, has a deep understanding of user needs and consciously decides which features make sense – and which do not. The Scrum Master, on the other hand, should not only make the team more efficient, but also support it in truly living agile principles: prioritising quality over quantity, promoting user-centricity and having the courage to consciously not do things. Only in this way can a company break away from pure feature production and create products that offer real added value in the long term.
Why is the ‘why’ so important in a feature factory?
In a feature factory, everything revolves around speed and output – but that is precisely where the problem lies. When teams develop features without asking themselves the fundamental question of ‘why’, an endless list of features that offer no real added value quickly emerges. Instead of focusing solely on releasing as many features as possible, companies should consciously question the actual purpose and benefit of a function.
The ‘Start With Why’ principle, made famous by Simon Sinek, can provide valuable guidance here. [1] It encourages you not to simply act, but to ask the central question first: What problem are we really solving? Why does the user need this feature? If this reflection is missing, the product does not develop along real needs, but becomes a collection point for features that are primarily intended to create the appearance of progress.
To break out of the feature factory, companies need to consciously rethink. Every new function should start with the question of why it is being developed at all. Only when this question has been clearly answered will a product be created that does not simply grow, but improves in a targeted manner.
What specific steps help with feature factories?
- First of all, it must be recognised that your own company or team is in a feature factory. Without this insight, any change remains impossible.
- This realisation should not be kept to oneself, but openly addressed. Making the problem visible and discussing it in teams, meetings or with management creates the basis for change.
- The status quo should be critically questioned. Which decisions lead to the development of features? Which metrics determine success? And what happens to features after their release? These questions help to identify the root causes instead of just fighting symptoms.
- Communication with relevant parties such as the product owner, the scrum master and the stakeholders is essential. Only when a common understanding of the issue has been established can the entire team work towards a change.
- The focus must be shifted more towards user value. Instead of simply implementing features because they are on a roadmap, it should be actively questioned whether they actually solve a problem for the user. Direct contact with users, regular feedback and data-driven decisions help to ensure that prioritisation is well-founded.
- A sustainable product strategy is essential. The product owner should be supported in developing a roadmap that not only contains a list of planned features but is also aligned with a long-term vision. Deliberately avoiding unnecessary functions is just as important as the targeted further development of the product.
- The technical basis also plays a crucial role. Practices such as pair programming, regular code reviews, test automation and continuous integration not only ensure better quality, but also prevent the product from becoming unmaintainable in the long term due to hasty feature development.
These steps help to escape the feature factory trap and refocus on what is essential: a product that impresses not with its multitude of features, but with its actual benefits.
What would happen if you stopped developing new features in your company for a while and improved your existing product using customer feedback?
Notes:
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[1] Simon Sinek: Start with Why
Here you will find a podcast on the subject: How To Succeed In A Feature Factory As A Product Manager.
And here you will find additional information from our Smartpedia section:
What is Developer Velocity?
What tasks does a Product Owner have?
What is a Feature Freeze?