As products evolve, success isn’t just about adding new features—it’s also about knowing when to retire those that no longer serve their purpose. In this talk, Roni will share real-world experiences from Craft.io on the delicate art of killing a feature. Often built with the intent to help users, some features eventually see minimal usage or lose relevance due to market evolution and emerging alternatives. Maintaining these outdated features not only clutters the product, complicates the user experience, and distorts your product story, but also adds hidden costs in terms of ongoing maintenance and increased development complexity.
Roni will discuss the multifaceted challenges involved in this process—from the technical and financial implications to the emotional and operational difficulties of communicating change to customers. Removing a feature, particularly one that holds user-generated data, demands careful planning, empathetic communication, and a well-managed migration strategy to ensure that customers are not left without value. In this session, Roni will share the lessons they learned at Craft.io, including both their successes and failures, and offer actionable frameworks to help you decide when to sunset a feature and how to do it effectively.