Anything is possible: Managing feature creep in an innovation rich environment

Abstract

This paper examines the inevitable product feature creep, also known as requirements creep, from an engineering project manager's perspective. Feature creep is often the wildcard a project manager has to balance against resources, cost and schedule. After first describing the nature and sources of feature creep, the paper delves into the detrimental aspects of feature creep, some of which are non-intuitive and affect a project in subtle ways. Finally, the paper describes methods to defend a project against the negative aspects of feature creep and incorporate change in a constructive way. This rigorous look at feature creep should help any engineering project manager balance the factors that affect a project, resulting in a successful product release.