Ruthless scope discipline.
That’s the key to speedy product launches, according to Gabrielle Sin, an engineering manager at January.
“Ship the smallest thing that generates real user signal, then compound from there,” Sin said.
While many engineering teams consider “sprint complete” a key metric during the product development process, this typically involves constant firefighting, a precursor to burnout. That’s why Sin’s team measures both planned delivery and unplanned interruptions, such as bugs and incidents.
“When we see planned completion stay high and unplanned work drop, it means the system is healthy; engineers are spending most of their time building instead of context-switching,” she said.
Sin’s team also prioritizes safety during launches by front-loading product requirements and problem clarity upfront and establishing a decision owner who can make trade-offs without waiting on committee consensus. These practices, along with others, give way to a product launch approach defined by what she considers “speed through systems, not heroics.”
Below, Sin shares more about how her team at January launches products quickly and safely while avoiding burnout.
About January
January is a fintech company that sets a new standard for humanized debt collection. Its tech-enabled platform improves recovery rates and sets creditors and borrowers up for success.
Your take on “moving fast” — in one line?
Speed comes from ruthless scope discipline: Ship the smallest thing that generates real user signal, then compound from there.
What metric shows speed without burnout?
Percent complete versus planned, and tracking unplanned work separately. Teams burn out when “sprint complete” hides the reality of constant firefighting. At January, we measure both planned delivery and unplanned interruptions, such as bugs, incidents and scope creep. When we see planned completion stay high and unplanned work drop, it means the system is healthy; engineers are spending most of their time building instead of context-switching. We review those trends in quick retros every sprint so we can fix the friction, not just push through it.
“Teams burn out when ‘sprint complete’ hides the reality of constant firefighting.”
What habit keeps launches safe?
Ruthless scope protection and clear go/no-go criteria set well before launch. At January, we protect timelines by front-loading product requirements and problem clarity upfront, then defending that scope against feature creep. Every launch has a decision owner who is empowered to make trade-offs without waiting on committee consensus. We map dependencies so blockers surface early, not at launch. Safe launches mean high confidence in the product we’re shipping because we’ve implemented observability to provide that confidence and had clarity around the problem space, so ownership could be exercised at all levels — speed through systems, not heroics.
