The Illusion of Speed in Building Products Customers Love
Moving fast isn’t the same as moving forward. Successful innovation demands the patience to get your understanding right before rushing to get it done.
We continue to follow Emma Caldwell, a seasoned product manager at VisionCore, as she navigates the pitfalls of unchecked ambition. Now, Emma’s challenge is managing the pressure to innovate at breakneck speed without proper product validation.
New Dawn?
After the costly failure of SyncGo, the leadership team vowed to do things differently moving forward. At the post-mortem of SyncGo, the CEO, Vince, admitted to what Emma had been saying all along: “We didn’t ask the right questions before we built. That won’t happen again.”
So when the company turned its attention to their next big idea, Emma walked into the kick-off meeting with cautious optimism.
“Team. This time, we’re gonna do it right,” said Vince, opening the meeting with a sense of purpose. “No skipping critical steps. No rushing in blind. Let’s start by answering the necessary questions before we build.”
Emma nodded along, relieved. The big concept—AI-powered sunglasses they’re calling ShadesAI—had potential. With features like live weather updates, traffic alerts, and real-time translation, it was the kind of product that could redefine wearable tech—or be dismissed as a gimmick if executed poorly.
She outlined a high-level plan for the discovery work:
Customer Research: Who are our target users? Are they travelers, urban commuters, tech enthusiasts?
Problem Validation: What specific frustrations or unmet needs will the AI Shades solve?
Feature Prioritization: Which features (i.e. translation, navigation, or hands-free alerts) will deliver the most value?
Differentiation Analysis: Why would customers buy these glasses instead of a smartwatch or AR headset alternatives?
Vince agreed to the plan. Emma felt, for the first time, like she was being heard.
But then came the timeline.
“We should be able to wrap this up in a couple of weeks, right?” Vince asked.
Emma hesitated. “A few weeks might be enough to get directional signals, but true validation (i.e. identifying the customer profile, testing assumptions, and prioritizing features) could take several months!”
Vince frowned. “Months? That’s too much time spent on talking to people. We can’t afford to wait that long to start building!”
Revelations
Despite her reservations, Emma agreed to compress her plan into four weeks. “It’s not ideal,” she told her team, “but we’ll make it work. We’ll focus on the core questions and cut out anything that’s not absolutely critical.”
She kicked off the discovery process, scheduling customer interviews, organizing surveys, and mapping out competitive research. Early insights revealed promising trends:
Tech-savvy travelers were intrigued by the idea of real-time translation.
Urban commuters liked the concept of hands-free navigation and traffic alerts.
But… most customers were skeptical about wearing sunglasses year-round, particularly in overcast climates or at night.
Emma flagged this as a critical issue. “If we’re serious about the AI Shades, we need to understand how users would adapt them for non-sunny scenarios. This could make or break the product.”
But when she raised the point in the weekly executive sync, the response was lukewarm.
Rick, the VP of Engineering, shrugged. “We can solve that later. Let’s focus on building out the features customers are excited about first.”
Emma pressed. “But Rick, if we don’t address this now, we might end up building a product no one can use for half the year. I strongly believe this is a necessary and sufficient condition for the success of this product!”
Vince nodded, but his patience was wearing thin. “Emma, I get it, but we need to keep up the momentum. Can we figure out the glasses’ use cases while we’re building the prototype?”
Tug-of-War
By week three, Emma realized the process had become a tug-of-war. The engineering team wanted to jump into prototyping. Marketing was already brainstorming the launch campaigns. Meanwhile, Emma was still struggling to nail down the basics:
Travelers loved the idea of live translation but questioned its accuracy in noisy environments.
Commuters were skeptical about whether sunglasses could replace their existing devices.
Most customers were reluctant to spend $300+ without a clear, unique value proposition.
Emma put together her findings into a report and presented it at the next leadership meeting. “Here’s the good news,” she began. “There’s clear interest in these shades. But there are also significant barriers. Price sensitivity, seasonal usability, and competition with smartwatches are the issues we need to address before we move forward.”
Kathryn, the COO, glanced at the report and shook her head. “Emma, this is helpful, but we don’t need perfection before we start building. We’ve already learned from SyncGo. Let’s not overcorrect by spending months stuck in analysis paralysis.”
Emma felt her frustration boil over. “This isn’t overcorrection. It’s discipline. Validation doesn’t mean getting everything perfect. It means ensuring we’re solving the right problems before we invest millions in building a product.”
Vince intervened, trying to calm the room. “Emma, we hear you, but we’re under pressure to deliver. Let’s build a prototype now and iterate based on feedback later. We can’t afford to lose more time.”
Emma bit her tongue. It was SyncGo all over again, dressed up in different packaging.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
By the end of week four, the engineering team had already started developing the prototype. Key questions like how to address non-sunny use cases had been pushed to the back burner.
In a smaller meeting with Rick and Kathryn, Emma tried one last time to push for answers for these critical questions. “We’re building blind again,” she said. “We’ve learned that people are interested, but we haven’t solved their biggest pain points. If we launch without addressing those, we’ll fail just like we did last time.”
Rick bristled. “We’re not building blind, Emma. We’ve got customer feedback, and we’ll learn more once we have something to show them. You keep talking about validation like it’s the only thing that matters, but at some point, we have to build.”
Emma stared at him, stunned. “It’s not validation OR building, Rick. It’s validation before building. If we skip this step again, the market will punish us.”
The tension in the room was suffocating. Kathryn finally spoke. “Let’s move forward with the prototype. We can revisit these questions later.”
Emma left the meeting feeling defeated. It’s as if the entire organization had amnesia.
That night, as Emma reviewed her notes, one thought gnawed at her.
Validation wasn’t just about process. It was about culture.
The same impatience that sank SyncGo was deeply embedded in how VisionCore operated.
Six months go by and now ShadesAI has finally launched. The event was everything the team had hoped for—glitzy, high-energy, and packed with excitement. Influencers hyped the product across social media, demo videos showcased the sunglasses’ sleek design and advanced features, and the marketing team proudly proclaimed: “The Future of Wearable Tech Is Here!”
Emma watched the launch unfold with mixed emotions. She wanted to be excited. She wanted to believe the product would succeed. But the doubts lingered:
Would the live translation actually work in real-world, noisy environments?
How would users react when they couldn’t use the glasses on cloudy days or at night?
Had they really differentiated enough from existing wearables?
The team had rushed through these questions months ago, assuring themselves they’d figure it out later.
Now, “later” had arrived.
Moment of Truth
The first wave of reviews came in two weeks after launch. At first, they were promising. Customers praised the design and found the idea of live translation intriguing.
But the cracks began to show quickly:
Accuracy Issues: Travelers complained that the live translation feature struggled in noisy cafés and busy streets, making it unreliable when they needed it most.
Limited Use Cases: Commuters loved the idea of hands-free navigation but found the glasses impractical on cloudy mornings or at night.
Price Sensitivity: Many early adopters balked at the $300 price tag, saying it wasn’t worth it for features they already had on their smartwatch.
Social media buzz turned sour as disappointed users vented their frustrations. Influencers who had initially praised the product began walking back their endorsements, and the once-glowing reviews on e-commerce sites were now peppered with two-star ratings.
The internal Slack channels were eerily quiet. No one wanted to acknowledge what was becoming obvious: the shades weren’t resonating.
Two months post-launch, VisionCore’s sales numbers told the full story. Adoption rates were a fraction of projections. The board was asking pointed questions about how much had been spent on development and marketing.
Vince called an emergency meeting to address the situation. Emma walked in, bracing herself for what was about to unfold.
“This isn’t where we wanted to be,” Vince began, his tone grim. “The shades haven’t performed as expected. So let’s talk about what went wrong.”
Rick spoke first. “We built what customers said they wanted in the interviews. If anything, the problem is with the marketing or the messaging.”
Emma bit her tongue, but Kathryn didn’t. “Marketing? The problem isn’t marketing, Rick. It’s that the product didn’t deliver on its promise. We rushed to build features without making sure they worked in real-life scenarios.”
Rick bristled. “We didn’t have time to validate every little thing, and we still don’t. If we had waited for perfection, we’d still be in discovery mode.”
Emma couldn’t hold back any longer. “This isn’t about perfection. It’s about discipline. We skipped the hard work of truly understanding the customer, their pain points, and how this product could fit into their lives. We cut corners on validation, and now we’re paying the price.”
The room went quiet. Vince leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. “Emma, you’ve made your point. But we don’t have the luxury of going back in time. What matters now is how we fix this.”
Damage Control
Vince tasked Emma with leading a “rapid improvement” initiative to salvage the AI Shades. She knew it would be an uphill battle. Sales had tanked, customers were losing trust, and the team’s morale was at an all-time low.
Her first step was to go back to the beginning. She reopened customer interviews, this time focusing on the frustrated early adopters. What she found was sobering:
Travelers didn’t trust the live translation feature enough to rely on it in critical moments.
Commuters felt the glasses added complexity to their routines instead of simplifying them.
Many customers saw the product as a cool concept but not a necessity — especially at its price point.
The reality hit hard: the AI Shades didn’t fail because they weren’t innovative. They failed because they weren’t solving meaningful problems in a way that customers found valuable.
Emma summarized her findings in a report for the executive team, along with a clear recommendation: pause all new features until the core problems are fixed.
Translation needed to work in noisy, real-world conditions — or it wasn’t worth including.
The product needed to offer value beyond sunny days, such as interchangeable lenses for indoor or nighttime use.
The price point had to be justified with features that truly set the product apart.
Kathryn resisted. “If we stop development now, we’ll lose what little momentum we have left.”
Emma countered, “If we keep pushing forward without addressing these issues, we’ll lose everything.”
Cultural Cracks
As the weeks passed, Emma noticed the cracks in VisionCore’s culture widening. Teams were pointing fingers instead of taking accountability. The engineering team blamed marketing for overpromising. Marketing blamed product for underdelivering.
But Emma knew the real problem went deeper. VisionCore hadn’t just skipped validation, they had skipped the hard conversations about how the company approached innovation. The rush to build, the fear of missing out, the unwillingness to embrace the slower, thoughtful work of discovery—it was all systemic.
One night, as Emma prepared for yet another executive meeting, she realized the AI Shades weren’t the only thing that needed fixing. If VisionCore didn’t address its cultural resistance to validation and learning, it wouldn’t matter what product they launched next.
The question wasn’t just whether VisionCore could save the AI Shades. It was whether they could save themselves.