Creep Quote by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
““Feature creep is an innocent process. An engineer looking at a prototype of a remote control might think to herself, “Hey, there’s some extra real estate here on the face of the control. And there’s some extra capacity on the chip. Rather than let it go to waste, what if we give people the ability to toggle between the Julian and Gregorian calendars?””
About This Quote
Source Book: Made to Stick, 2008
Feature creep starts as a harmless idea but can lead to unnecessary complexity, illustrating how small additions accumulate into larger problems.
In simple terms: Small, innocent additions can become overwhelming
Key Takeaway
Guard against unnecessary additions early
Themes
design
scope creep
innovation
Mood
cautionary
analytical
Type
business
educational
When to use this quote
- software projects
- hardware design
- marketing campaigns
Key Concepts
Product development
human psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you decide what to keep?
- What criteria stop you from adding more?
A Different Perspective
Feature creep can dilute core value
