Ever notice how “next week” turns into Q4 on the roadmap?
Here’s the shipping routine I’ve landed on after too many slow quarters.
1. Monday – Pick an annoyance, not a feature
Customers complain about friction, not missing bells. I open Intercom, filter by “ugh”, and grab the top pain that can be killed in under 2 dev-days.
Pro tip: if scoping hurts, it’s too big—halvesies until your gut relaxes.
2. Tuesday – One-pager, not a spec
A Loom plus a Notion bullet list:
- Why it matters (1–2 sentences)
- Edge cases (max 3)
- Success screenshot (Figma mock or napkin drawing)
That’s the entire brief. Done.
3. Wed–Thu – Build in a public branch
- Push early, push messy.
- Post WIP gifs on your community Slack.
- Let users roast the rough edges before Friday.
4. Friday 10 AM – Ship & tell
A Git tag, a changelog bullet, and a 20-second Loom for social.
Momentum > polish.
5. Friday 3 PM – Retro
What blocked you? Trim that next Monday.
Key take-aways
- Pain-first backlog keeps scope human-sized.
- Visual briefs kill over-spec.
- Public WIP turns users into QA.
- Fixed calendar release builds trust—people start watching.
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