Why speed matters

Speed has two sides, speed of development and the speed of the app. And the bad thing is that speedy apps take long time to develope. We're currently trying to get new and speedier apps to the market, but we must wait with speeding up some parts, since that will too long.

I found the article Why speed matters from O'Reilly Radar by Joshua-Michéle Ross, quite utile to motivate my team. Here are some highlights:

Speed is our default setting

Human beings live and operate in a constant state of now; we process extraordinary volumes of information in real time. The acceleration of technology is simply an effort to catch up to our zero-latency experience of being. Whenever given a choice, we will opt for a service that delivers response times as fast as our own nervous system.

Then Joshua-Michéle Ross discuss each of these points:

1. Speed is money saved
2. Speed is gratification delivered
3. Speed is loyalty earned
4. Speed equals certainty, delay equals doubt
5. Speed is a key facet of business strategy
6. Speed is a pain

And makes a good end:

Speed is a choice we make

I believe that the terms of success for people in the world will increasingly reside with managing their own pace and flow of attention against the demands of speed. Those capable of strategically disconnecting and applying selective focus will be at an advantage in business or in life (hasn't this always been the case?) because exercising foresight and judgment, two critical life skills, are not necessarily improved by speed. Quite the opposite.

But this isn't the same as saying that we must slow down in business wholesale. As long as society rewards speed with equity, it will be the fundamental basis for competitive advantage and worth our attention.