Feature Creep

Many software products die an earlier death than necessary because of feature creep, by which additional bits of functionality are continually added.  Feature creep (also commonly known as scope 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.

When the project's scope begins expanding to the point where it will delay shipping the project on time (or at all), remember that Shipping is a Feature, and your product must have it.

See Also

Courage

Simplicity

Design by Committee (antipattern)

References

Principles, Patterns, and Practices of Mediocre Programming

NimblePros AntiPatterns 2012 Wall Calendar