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Software Friction

(www.hillelwayne.com)
141 points saikatsg | 1 comments | 17 Jun 24 06:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
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hnthrow289570 ◴[18 Jun 24 15:31 UTC] No.40718979[source]▶
>The requirements are unclear, or a client changes what they want during development. A client changes what they want after development.

Agile supports some uncertainty, but often a mile is taken when an inch is given.

You have to take it in stride though. Developers stay employed for shipping bad or happy-path-only code all the time.

>Is friction important to individuals? Do I benefit from thinking about friction on a project, even if nobody else on my team does?

Even if you were to eliminate a lot of friction, the profit would go to the business anyway.

The military has different incentives, of course.

replies(2): >>40719897 #>>40721217 #
1. zhengyi13 ◴[18 Jun 24 19:24 UTC] No.40721217[source]▶
>>Is friction important to individuals? Do I benefit from thinking about friction on a project, even if nobody else on my team does?

>Even if you were to eliminate a lot of friction, the profit would go to the business anyway.

At the intersection of software development, the military, and whether or not friction is important to individuals... I'm reminded of the USDS, and IIRC some of their work to improve workflows and discoverability around (specific) VA benefits.

If you've ever listened to vets talking about the VA, they're rarely complimentary about it, frequently complaining about how hard it is to find the entry point to get the needed benefits, and how hard navigating process is after the entry point is found.

Reducing that friction means more benefits are exercised, at a higher cost to the government. OTOH, maybe the overall cost is lower, if fewer phonecalls are answered explaining how to do a thing, and fewer forms are filled out justifying a thing.