Appetite
A time budget decided up front for how much a problem is worth, used to constrain the solution instead of estimating how long a given solution will take.
Also known as: Appetite (Shape Up), Time Budget, Fixed Appetite
Category: Techniques
Tags: project-management, planning, product-management, estimation, prioritization
Explanation
Appetite is a core idea of Shape Up, the product development method published by Ryan Singer at Basecamp. Instead of starting with a solution and asking 'how long will this take?', you start with the problem and ask 'how much time is this worth to us?'. That amount of time is the appetite.
## Appetite vs Estimate
- **An estimate** starts from a design and predicts a duration. Estimates tend to grow, and they let the solution dictate the cost.
- **An appetite** starts from a duration and constrains the design. The question becomes: what is the best version of this we can build in that time?
In Shape Up, appetites come in two sizes: a small batch (one or two weeks for a designer and one or two programmers) or a big batch (a full six-week cycle).
## Why It Works
- **It forces trade-offs early**: Knowing the budget, you design a solution that fits it rather than an ideal solution that then overruns.
- **It protects against scope creep**: 'Is this worth more than six weeks?' is a clearer question than 'how can we fit everything in?'.
- **It reflects value**: Some problems are only worth a week, no matter how much better a three-month version would be. Appetite makes that explicit.
- **It counters the planning fallacy**: Estimates are biased toward optimism. A fixed appetite combined with variable scope sidesteps that bias.
## Applying It Beyond Product Teams
Appetite works for personal projects too. Before starting a side project, an article, or a home improvement, decide how much time you are willing to invest. When the budget runs out, ship what you have, cut scope, or consciously decide to make a new bet, rather than drifting.
'Good' is relative to the appetite: a solution is good if it is the best one possible within the time you decided the problem deserved.
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