Feature Creep

Feature CreepMany software products die an earlier death than necessary because of feature creep, by which additional bits of functionality are continually added.  Feature creep is often responsible for delays in shipping or delivering software, and many times additional features necessitate increased complexity in the product's design, overcomplicating it.  Sometimes feature creep is the result of a design by committee design process, in which additional features are added in order to appease various stakeholders involved in the project, rather than having the courage to stand by the project's original vision.

See Also

Courage

Simplicity

Design by Committee (antipattern)

References

Principles, Patterns, and Practices of Mediocre Programming

NimblePros AntiPatterns 2012 Wall Calendar