Why Building the Wrong Product Will Help You Create the Right Product

By Udhay Sharma PSM I, CSM, SMC

SMC SPOC - Sharma Management International - Scrum Master Certification (SMC) | Scrum Product Owner Certified (SPOC®)

In the world of innovation, we are taught to fear failure. We spend months or years in "stealth mode," polishing a product until it’s perfect, only to release it and find that the market doesn’t want it.

But what if I told you that building that "wrong" product was a mandatory step? The path to a breakthrough isn't a straight line; it’s a series of course corrections. By building the wrong product, you gain the one thing data and surveys can’t give you which is genuine user reaction and pushback.

1. The Car Industry: Iteration Before It Was "Cool"

Before "Agile" was a buzzword, the automotive industry was learning this the hard way. Take the Ford Edsel. Ford spent $400 million in the 1950s developing a car they thought everyone wanted based on massive market research. It was a spectacular failure.

However, the "wrong" product (the Edsel) taught Ford invaluable lessons about market segmentation and over-engineering. They took those hard-won insights and pivoted their design philosophy, eventually leading to the Ford Mustang which is one of the most successful car launches in history. They used a primitive form of Scrum without knowing it: they took a "Sprint" (the Edsel cycle), gathered feedback (market rejection), and "inspected and adapted" for the next increment.

2. Social Media: The Art of the Pivot

Most of the social media giants we use today started as the "wrong" product.

Instagram began as Burbn, a complicated check-in app with gaming elements. It was too cluttered.
YouTube started as a video dating site ("Tune In, Hook Up").

The founders of these companies didn't stick to their original vision out of pride. They looked at how users were interacting with the "wrong" features. Instagram noticed people only used the photo filters; YouTube noticed people just wanted to upload random videos. By delivering a "Potentially Shippable Product" (Burbn) and realizing it was wrong, they found the goldmine hidden inside it.

3. IT Software: The "Accidental" Scrum Framework

In IT, the "Waterfall" method, where you plan everything at the start, is the graveyard of good ideas. Modern software success stories almost always involve building the wrong thing first to discover the right one.

Consider Slack. It didn't start as a communication tool for businesses; it was an internal tool built for a gaming company called Tiny Speck while they were making a game called Glitch. The game failed (the wrong product). But the internal chat tool they built to manage the game was the "right" product.

They were practicing Scrum instinctively:

Transparency: The team saw exactly what wasn't working in the game.
Inspection: They realized the game wasn't sticking, but the chat was.

Adaptation: They pivoted 180 degrees to focus on the tool that actually solved a problem.

The Science of "Wrong"

When teams build the wrong product, they aren't wasting time. They are conducting a high-fidelity experiment. In Scrum, we call this the Sprint Review. By putting a version of the product in front of stakeholders, you realize that:

Users don't actually need Feature A.
Users are using Feature B in a way you never intended.

The "problem" you thought you were solving doesn't actually exist.

Conclusion: Don't Fear the Pivot

The "Right Product" is usually hiding behind the "Wrong Product." The key is not to avoid building the wrong thing, but to build it as quickly and cheaply as possible. Use the Agile mindset and Scrum framework to manage your projects. Build a small increment, show it to the world, listen to the groans or the cheers, and adapt. Your initial failure isn't a dead end, it’s the compass pointing you toward your greatest success.