The team built features that were never requested. What should happen?
Gold platingCheck whether the extra work creates real value and whether it was authorized. Remove or defer unnecessary additions when they increase testing, support, cost, or risk without an agreed benefit.
What to do now
- Identify the unrequested functionality
- Assess its lifecycle impact
- Ask the owner to accept or remove it
- Reinforce the agreed scope boundary
When to escalate
Escalate when
The additions threaten safety, security, delivery dates, or supportability.
Who decides
The scope owner and authorized sponsor
Example
A decorative dashboard animation is removed because it delays accessibility testing and does not support the accepted outcome.
Mistake to avoid
Rewarding extra features without considering their maintenance burden.
Prevent a repeat
Review ambiguous requirements and unresolved acceptance conditions before the affected work begins.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Tasks
- Documents
- Approvals
Keep the agreed scope and acceptance evidence with the project; record any proposed change and its decision separately. See the platform
Related cases
- How do we stop approved scope from drifting between versions?Baseline version drift
- Our project overlaps with another team's system. Where should the boundary be?Unclear scope interface
- A key stakeholder says they were never consulted. How should I respond?Stakeholder engagement gap
- The security checklist is complete, but permission tests were never run. Is that enough?Unverified authorization controls