when should you consider building real-time features? dont wait too long. its often better to get them in early.

hey folks, im thinking about building out some real-time features for a project, maybe something like live user counts or push notifications. im curious about when others start thinking about real-time capabilities. is it when the feature *requires* it, or is it more about user experience enhancements? what are your go-to technologies or patterns for handling this kind of thing when you decide to go real-time?