Paul Mison’s Maximum Viable Product feels like a more clever (if more cheeky) way to get at what I was trying to say with my notes on Flourishes and Minimal Competence (and Competence found), and threads the needle of recent 4up from Aaron and The Flickr We Lost from Dan.

I don’t have much conclusion as much as a sense there’s a thing there that I’m still trying to get my hands around.

The other piece I wonder at about this is the role of sophisticated testing and measurements and being the user.

I hear that engagement is way up in the wake of Flickr’s changes, and I know I’ve been gone a long time and things have probably changed, but I can’t help but be struck how unsophisticated we were at measuring things at Flickr — in part because we were a tiny team, and in part because we relied on our instincts. It makes me wonder what’s guiding the current work.