Stop building the wrong features: build lean instead

I knew better, but I built it anyway.

Last Saturday I found myself deep in the weeds polishing an avatar builder for Jasin. Custom inputs. Slick UI. Thoughtful defaults. Designer catnip.

It felt like progress, until a stubborn bug slowed me down just long enough to ask the obvious question:

Who's actually going to use this?

Then it hit me. I wasn't building for users. I was building for myself.

It's a trap I've seen (and fallen into) plenty of times: creative momentum masquerading as product-market fit.

Passion feels productive, but it doesn't always ship. If you're not careful, it just burns time and clutters your backlog with beautiful dead ends.

The real challenge isn't building. It's deciding what not to build. Especially now, when AI-assisted tools make it easier than ever to build almost anything. That's where a lean mindset helps: validate ideas quickly, build only what's proven to matter.

To avoid falling into the same trap again, I've started running every new feature idea through a simple filter. It's nothing fancy, just a lightweight way to keep my roadmap focused and user-driven.

1. Ask "who cares?" before you touch any code

Every feature should have a clear user and a clear reason to exist. If you can't write that down in two sentences, stop. Write the README first. If it sounds vague or dull, the feature probably is too.

2. Don't let vibes determine what makes the cut

I felt productive because I was engaged. But engagement isn't evidence. If no one uses a feature in two weeks, archive it or cut it. Vibes don't scale. Clarity does.

3. Scratch your own itch on weekends, build for users during the week

It's tempting to indulge yourself. But if you're building a product (not a playground), your time has to earn its keep. Every hour you spend should compound for someone else.

This kind of deliberate prioritization might sound rigid, but it's what prevents bloat and keeps your product aligned with actual needs instead of your own enthusiasm.

That avatar builder was polished, slick, and useless. The faster I made peace with that, the faster I stopped mistaking motion for traction.