Initially, I was very confused about why this is a good idea. Before the web, feature "productization" was the always part of design of the system and of each module: in other words, each feature should be disabled based on some criteria (i.e., like not ready for release, insufficient licenses), measured, etc.
But then after a few minutes... I kinda got it. I think this is a great tool for marketing, biz, and product management in organizations where the overall organization structure is kinda messed up and they cannot convince development to do things right. Which is 90% of companies. Very similar to hiring external management consulting services: since nobody in the company is capable to organize this.
>> overall organization structure is kinda messed up and they cannot convince development to do things right
That has nothing to do with why feature flags exist. No amount of planning or perfectly written software will give you insight into how your customers will react to your feature. I'd rather release something to 5% of my customers, see how it performs in the wild, make adjustments accordingly, and only then release it 100% along with any marketing initiatives that support it.
If teams use feature flags to release untested/unprepared code, that's their prerogative and is a perfectly acceptable use case if the business is amenable to those risks.
I've lost count over the years of how many features I've seen significantly modified after user feedback, or altogether cancelled because it was determined the long-term maintenance cost wouldn't be worth it vs. adoption/traction.
But then after a few minutes... I kinda got it. I think this is a great tool for marketing, biz, and product management in organizations where the overall organization structure is kinda messed up and they cannot convince development to do things right. Which is 90% of companies. Very similar to hiring external management consulting services: since nobody in the company is capable to organize this.
So in short - LaunchDarkly will do well.