Feature Lists Are a Trap: How to Prioritize Software Based on Real Business Needs

When evaluating safety software, it's easy to get distracted by long feature lists and flashy demos. Most software vendors highlight the same buzzwords: automation, dashboards, AI-powered insights, and “seamless” integrations. The problem? Not all of these features are meaningful for your project team—or your business.

In fact, chasing features can lead to bloated tools that slow down your workflows instead of supporting them. What really matters is whether the software helps your people do their jobs better, faster, and with fewer errors. And the best way to figure that out isn’t in a product brochure—it’s in your day-to-day operations.

To set yourself up for long-term success, take a step back from the shiny features and focus on three things: talking to your users, identifying must-haves vs. nice-to-haves, and writing user stories that reflect actual use cases. These steps keep your software selection process rooted in real needs—not hype—and aligned with your overall business strategy.

Step 1: Talk to the People in the Field

Start by getting input from the people who will use the software every day—not just the implementation team or top-level decision-makers. This includes your field teams, safety officers, project managers, administrators, and even clients if they interact with your reports.

Skip the assumptions and have direct conversations. These don’t need to be long or formal—a few targeted questions can surface valuable insights.

Ask:

• What’s something that takes longer than it should?
• What are you doing manually that could be automated?
• What frustrates you about the current process?
• What workarounds are you using to get things done?
• If you could change one thing about the system you use now, what would it be?

Listen for patterns. Recurring pain points are signals that your software needs to step in and do better.

Step 2: Define Must-Haves vs. Nice-to-Haves

Once you’ve gathered feedback, organize it into two buckets:

• Must-Haves: These are features your team can’t work without. If missing, your operations slow down or fall apart.
• Nice-to-Haves: Helpful extras. They’re good to have but not critical for day-to-day work.

Here’s an example in a safety context:
Your inspectors are still using paper forms and manually entering data later. In that case, must-haves might include:

• Mobile inspections that work offline
• Auto-generated PDFs with signatures
• Secure cloud storage for fast access

Meanwhile, tools like drag-and-drop dashboards or advanced analytics might be nice-to-haves. They’re worth considering—but they won’t fix today’s problems.

This step helps you cut through the noise during demos. Many software vendors will showcase a wide range of features. But when you’ve clearly defined your strategic goals, you can stay laser-focused on what actually supports your team and drives results.

Step 3: Turn Feedback into User Stories

Now that you know what you need, it’s time to translate those needs into user stories—a simple way to express practical use cases your software must support.

Use this format:

“As a [role], I want to [task], so I can [benefit].”

Examples:

• “As a safety consultant, I want to complete inspection reports on my phone, so I don’t have to carry paper forms.”
• “As an admin, I want to track which inspections are overdue, so I can send reminders before deadlines slip.”
• “As a business owner, I want our reports to include our logo and contact info, so they reflect our brand when shared with clients.”

These stories guide both your implementation team and software providers. They create clarity across your organization—from leadership to field crews—and give vendors real-world scenarios to respond to. Instead of asking vague questions like “Do you offer reporting?”, you’re saying, “Here’s how we work—can your platform support this?”

Real-World Scenario

Let’s say you run a safety consultancy with a growing list of clients. You’ve been managing inspections with spreadsheets, emails, and manual reporting. It works—for now—but cracks are forming. Inspections take too long. Reports get lost. Clients want more visibility. Your admin team is juggling too much.

You know it’s time for a better solution. But instead of jumping at the platform with the flashiest demo, you talk to your team. They tell you:

• “It takes me 30 minutes just to create a report after every site visit.”
• “Sometimes I forget to send the inspection results to the client until days later.”
• “We don’t have one place to track follow-up tasks—we use sticky notes or email.”

You translate this into must-haves:

• Mobile-friendly inspections
• Instant report generation with client sharing
• Task tracking with automated reminders

Then you write a few user stories:

• “As a field inspector, I want to complete reports on-site, so nothing falls through the cracks.”
• “As a coordinator, I want to assign follow-up actions and see what’s overdue, so I can keep clients informed.”

You bring those into your conversations with software vendors, grounded in real workflows and aligned with your business strategy. This ensures your software selection process stays focused, avoids feature bloat, and supports your long-term success.