What is Iteration?
Iteration is the practice of making repeated cycles of improvements to your product. Each cycle incorporates learnings from the previous one.
The Iteration Cycle
- Plan: Define what to build/test
- Build: Create the feature/experiment
- Measure: Collect data on results
- Learn: Analyze and draw conclusions
- Repeat: Start next cycle
Why Iterate?
- Reduce risk of building wrong thing
- Learn from real user behavior
- Adapt to market changes
- Improve continuously
Iteration Best Practices
- Keep cycles short (1-2 weeks)
- Test one hypothesis at a time
- Define success metrics upfront
- Document learnings
- Be willing to kill features
Iteration vs. Pivot
- Iteration: Small improvements
- Pivot: Fundamental strategy change