Carroll, Paul B. "Creating New Software Was Agonizing Task for Mitch Kapor Firm," The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 1990, A1, A5. This is a fascinating case study of the development of On Location 1.0 and illustrates what a blind spot feature creep can be.

Gibbs, W. Wayt. "Software's Chronic Crisis," Scientific American, September 1994, 86–95. This article describes some recent software projects that have been plagued by changing requirements, including the Denver airport's baggage-handling software and the FAA's air-traffic-control workstation software.

Jones, Capers. Assessment and Control of Software Risks. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Yourdon Press, 1994. Chapter 9, "Creeping User Requirements," contains a detailed discussion of the root causes, associated problems, cost impact, and methods of prevention and control of feature creep.

McConnell, Steve. Code Complete. Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, 1993. Sections 3.1 through 3.3 describe how costs increase when you accept requirements changes late in a project. They also contain an extended argument for trying to get accurate requirements as early in a project as possible.

Bugsy. TriStar Pictures. Produced by Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson, and Warren Beatty, and directed by Barry Levinson, 1991. This movie begins as a story about a gangster moving to California to take over the Hollywood rackets, but it quickly turns into a tale of Bugsy Siegel's obsession with building the first casino in Las Vegas. Bugsy's casino ultimately costs six times its original estimate, largely due to what we would think of as feature creep. As a software developer who's been on the builder's side of that problem, it's hard not to feel a sense of justice when Bugsy is finally gunned down for changing his mind too often and spending too much of the mob's money.