focus – Audio Dev School

Every project starts with excitement. A blank slate. Endless possibilities. But that freedom can be deceptive. The more directions you could take your idea, the harder it becomes to move forward. What begins as a clear concept often grows into a tangle of features, each one fighting for attention. When you have total freedom, it’s easy to drift into decision paralysis or end up with bloated software that tries to do everything and excels at nothing. The Power of Creative Constraints The solution is to set creative constraints. Pick one or two core goals and design everything around them. Every feature, every sound, every control should serve those goals, and nothing else. These aren’t limitations imposed on you, they’re intentional boundaries you set for yourself. Maybe you decide your plugin will: Only serve live performers Work with notation software but not DAWs Include just three UI controls Focus on a single workflow style By narrowing your focus, you give yourself permission to ignore everything that doesn’t matter. Start Small, Learn Fast When you do less you gain clarity. You move faster and build something that's simpler and more effective. Starting small doesn’t mean you need to limit your ambition. It gives you the chance to test your ideas with real users before you invest time adding features, complexity, and code you might not need. You’ll learn what actually matters and what your audience truly values. If you decide to expand later, your users will appreciate the new features. Or if you keep it lean, they won’t miss what was never there. Stronger Products Through Focus A focused plugin isn’t a compromise, it’s a sign of intention and purpose. You end up building something more cohesive, more stable, and ultimately more useful to the people you made it for.

Tag: focus

The Power of Doing Less