Skip to main content

Feature Access Risk

Risk of not being able to access a dependency in a timely fashion due to it's scarcity.

Part Of

Reduced By Practices

  • Measurement: Helps in understanding the use of the system.
  • Performance Testing: Identifies performance bottlenecks that could impact operations.
  • Release: Users are able to access the features you release to them.

Feature Access Risk

Feature Access Risks are risks due to some clients not having access to some or all of the features in your product.

Sometimes features can work for some people and not others: this could be down to Accessibility issues, language barriers, localisation or security.

You could argue that the choice of platform is also going to limit access: writing code for XBox-only leaves PlayStation owners out in the cold. This is largely Feature Access Risk, though Dependency Risk is related here.

In marketing terms, minimising Feature Access Risk is all about Segmentation: trying to work out who your product is for and tailoring it to that particular market. As shown in the diagram above, mitigating Feature Access Risk means increasing complexity: you have to deliver the software on more platforms, localised in more languages, with different configurations of features. It also means increased development effort.