Building a Roadmap…in the Crypto industry…Without estimates…in Winter

When Pluto took over the YOP Finance product, we looked at what was needed to build the great DeFi product we envisaged. We did high-level relative estimations based on Epics that were created, with just the right amount of detail so they could be confidently sized.

We then conducted research and analysis with people in the industry, performed competitor analysis, and asked the community what was important to them, and what they wanted. We then consulted various legal experts to get their input on our plans, to make sure that what we wanted to do did not breach any regulations that existed. We explored the different jurisdictions that we could launch the product out of, ensuring we were operating with the appropriate licences or registrations depending on where we were based, setting up the necessary subsidiaries as we progressed.

Once our house was in order and the plans were agreed, we started building. The team built the app in a truly remarkable turnaround time. What was achieved between the start of development and the Private Launch was spectacular. Once we completed the Private Launch there were a few more features that needed completing before the Public Launch, but again the team got them all (and more) completed and ready for the Public Launch, on time 💪

We launched, we checked with the community and looked for feedback…. based on the feedback the original roadmap was no longer fit for purpose… so the process starts again 🤯

This may sound painful (yes it can be at times) but it is normal, it is expected, and because it is expected we adapt, we adjust, we move on.

In the world of software development there are some rules…

1. Dates that are provided over extended periods are always wrong — if the date applies to a feature that is not currently being worked on (and sometimes when it is being worked on), ignore it 😊 I am only half joking — Dates should not be taken as gospel. If you want 100% accurate dates, let me get back to you in 2 years with a Waterfall plan where every minute detail has been scrutinised. This didn’t work in the old world, and it certainly won’t work in the fast-moving crypto world
2. Priorities WILL change — Because a roadmap is created based on what we know now, when we release something, the landscape has been altered. What we knew is now different and we must re-evaluate — A kind of “Schrödinger’s cat” development challenge
3. There are always unknown, unknowns — We don’t know what these are, but we do know they will mess with us!
4. Estimates will be wrong — See point 1
5. Humans are strange — No matter which process is used (Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, XP, Waterfall), none of these frameworks account for the crazy stuff, we all do …. even rocket scientists https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-01-mn-17288-story.html

So, we will be releasing the updated roadmap very soon, I’m excited as there are a lot of cool features on it… one thing that there won’t be is estimates. We have kept it very simple. There are the features we are working on Now… these are actively being worked on and will be delivered soon. There are the Next features… yes you guessed it, these are coming after the features we are working on Now. Then there are the Future features. These are the features we have agreed we will build, so it is not just a wish list.

When the roadmap is published, we will review and re-publish as needed….. see point 2 above 😊

YOP Website: https://yop.finance/

YOP DeFi App: https://app.yop.finance/