We embrace an organic, engineer-driven approach to product development. Rather than implementing rigid top-down directives, we foster an environment where ideas can emerge from anywhere in the organisation and evolve through practical experimentation and real-world usage.
Our product development strategy draws from three primary sources:
Ideas, regardless of their initial perceived value, find their home in our Avalonia Roadmap GitHub project. This project comprehensives encompasses planning for Avalonia Accelerate, current version maintenance, and future version development of Avalonia.
When an idea enters the roadmap, it indicates that we've discussed it within on Telegram and determined it warrants further investigation.
Each roadmap item includes:
As items mature on the roadmap, we develop detailed specifications and foster deeper discussions about implementation approaches.
Our engineers generally pursue projects that align with their interests and expertise. This bottom-up approach means that rather than receiving assignments from above, engineers often propose and champion their own initiatives. We find this approach leads to more innovative solutions and higher-quality outputs, as engineers are naturally more invested in projects they've chosen to pursue.
We maintain a culture that values experimentation and accepts that not all initiatives will succeed. Our experience with AvMA, our WPF to XPF compatibility testing tool, exemplifies this approach. Despite significant investment in its development, when the tool failed to meet our standards for result validity, we made the decision to bin it.
This willingness to take calculated risks and learn from outcomes has proved invaluable. Had we been more risk-averse, we might never have developed XPF, which now generates half of our revenue. We believe that executing on ideas and learning from real-world results, even when they don't succeed, is preferable to avoiding risks entirely.
Whilst our process remains flexible, we maintain enough structure to ensure effective coordination and resource allocation. Each proposal undergoes thorough discussion and consideration, with all ideas treated respectfully regardless of their ultimate fate. This balanced approach allows us to maintain agility whilst ensuring our development efforts align with our broader objectives.
The transition from concept to development often occurs organically, driven by engineer interest and available capacity rather than formal stage gates. This fluidity enables us to respond quickly to opportunities whilst ensuring engineers remain engaged and motivated.
Our approach to product development reflects our broader organisational culture: one that values initiative, embraces calculated risk-taking, and learns from both successes and failures. By maintaining this balance between structure and flexibility, we continue to innovate whilst delivering reliable, high-quality solutions to our users.