Building a product with constant changes
“I think one of the biggest ones is building a product that you think people want instead of solving a problem of teachers, administrators, students, or parents are directly facing and know they are experiencing. Without this, too often shiny new technology hits the market and doesn't find a good fit or get lasting users because it doesn't solve a problem.
Another one is trying to do too much. The educational system is complicated and has a LOT of users involved in different ways, so it's easy to try to do too much, too quickly, for too many people, especially in the early days, which causes you to do nothing well. This can lead to not finding your niche or having too many customers that aren't happy because you don't have a core thing you do well that you slowly build around based on real feedback.
Lastly, another pitfall is not understanding the different constituents that are involved in your product in some way, as often teachers and/or students might be the user, but the district or administrators, or sometimes parents, are the purchasers of the product, so you have to adapt your message to each user and ensure the experience with each works well.”
- James Bacon, Director of Outreach & Operations at Edficiency