5 ms·

"Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs." It wasn't a bug it wa

"Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs." It wasn't a bug it was a feature. Maybe I'm too much of an engineer but I HATE when PM's/managers/PR representatives just classify all unexpected and undesired behaviour as "bugs". A "bug" implies I made a mistake. I didn't make a mistake. I developed EXACTLY what you told me, after numerous rounds of confirmation and feedback loops. It's not a bug if it's doing exactly what it was supposed to.

stvswn 11y ago
You don't have any responsibility for what you build? Maybe it's on you, too. (As a PM, I HATE when engineers are full of confirmations and feedback loops but cop the 'not my fault, I just build exactly what you tell me' attitude the moment there's something to fix)
- teaneedz 11y ago
  The PM is responsible for the requirements. If my PRD fails to be explicit or is not involved in the QA process, the PM needs to take ownership. Yes, everyone is responsible for the UX, but the PM especially.
- deanCommie 11y ago
  Yeah well, when I find a bug I go to my PM and I say "Dude, I messed up. Here's the problem. Here's what you need to tell the customers to do/not do. Here's what i need to fix it." When there's a problem with requirements and the users are screaming, and the system isn't doing what they want (but exactly what they built), the PM comes to me and says "We fucked up. You need to drop everything and fix this right away." This has been the case with almost every PM I've ever worked with.
voiper1 11y ago
In the pop-out compose, it _replaced_ the send&archive. In the regular compose/reply/forward, it added another button to the side. I'm thinking the "bug" is that in the pop-out, it replaced the send&archive, so people _inadvertently_ clicked it out of muscle memory.
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  Nah, the bug is that it actually triggered on the normal send button as well, for some people. https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/715770400555315202 https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/715770400555315202
  - Robadob 11y ago
    The actual bug was apparently a little more nuanced than 'for some people'. If you tried the mic drop button in an empty email, it would fail to send. If you then used that same email draft and sent it regularly, the effect would still apply. https://twitter.com/cabel/status/715769273545785344 https://twitter.com/cabel/status/715769273545785344
    - Mithaldu 11y ago
      The tweet i linked contains those details. ;)
    - dilap 11y ago
      That's a pretty bad bug! I imagine a pretty standard behavior would be open a compose window, notice the new button and click it out of curiosity (safely, since you have a blank email), and then go ahead with your normal email.
    - JonnieCache 11y ago
      That is brutal. I guess this kind of thing is why we no longer have flight simulators in our spreadsheets and so forth.
      - TillE 11y ago
        It's hard to screw things up too badly with something like the flight simulator. It's just a hidden toy completely disconnected from the rest of the program. But when you start messing with the user's content as a joke, god help you.
bostonpete 11y ago
Well, to be fair, I suspect PM's/managers/PR representatives HATE when angry engineers go on knee-jerk rants about how a bug which they know nothing about is a "feature"... :-)
SloopJon 11y ago
Bugs absolutely can originate in the analysis and design phases. In fact, they tend to be the most expensive ones.
- infogulch 11y ago
  Yes, the word "bug" isn't restricted to only implementation, but it certainly has that connotation. In deanCommie's case, it sounds like the PM is using the existing connotation of the word "bug" to assign blame to the implementation when it correctly implements the broken design. When the list of "bugs" are used in performance metrics which affect your career, correctly assigning blame becomes important.
  - hirsin 11y ago
    Agreed, bug can lack nuance. We have subtypes for our bugs in our tracker and try to use them liberally. Generally spec defect (as opposed to code defect) is only used when someone closes a bug "by design", at which point you say the design is wrong.
    - infogulch 11y ago
      I like that flow: open bug > close as by-design > reopen as spec-defect > change spec > re-implement new spec
      - hirsin 11y ago
        It's an effective way of putting power in the hands of people impacted, for better or for worse. I've certainly reopened "by design" bugs in areas I don't own because I think the design it wrong. Done with tact (and usually a note explaining/alerting the person) it generally goes over well.
matwood 11y ago
Bugs can happen at any stage of the development cycle. Typically the farther away a bug is found from the stage it entered the more expensive it is to fix. EDIT Wording, pre-coffee.
dominotw 11y ago
A bug doesn't necessarily mean bug in implementation/code.

stvswn 11y ago

You don't have any responsibility for what you build? Maybe it's on you, too. (As a PM, I HATE when engineers are full of confirmations and feedback loops but cop the 'not my fault, I just build exactly what you tell me' attitude the moment there's something to fix)

teaneedz 11y ago
The PM is responsible for the requirements. If my PRD fails to be explicit or is not involved in the QA process, the PM needs to take ownership. Yes, everyone is responsible for the UX, but the PM especially.
deanCommie 11y ago
Yeah well, when I find a bug I go to my PM and I say "Dude, I messed up. Here's the problem. Here's what you need to tell the customers to do/not do. Here's what i need to fix it." When there's a problem with requirements and the users are screaming, and the system isn't doing what they want (but exactly what they built), the PM comes to me and says "We fucked up. You need to drop everything and fix this right away." This has been the case with almost every PM I've ever worked with.

voiper1 11y ago

In the pop-out compose, it _replaced_ the send&archive. In the regular compose/reply/forward, it added another button to the side. I'm thinking the "bug" is that in the pop-out, it replaced the send&archive, so people _inadvertently_ clicked it out of muscle memory.

Mithaldu 11y ago
Nah, the bug is that it actually triggered on the normal send button as well, for some people. https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/715770400555315202 https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/715770400555315202
- Robadob 11y ago
  The actual bug was apparently a little more nuanced than 'for some people'. If you tried the mic drop button in an empty email, it would fail to send. If you then used that same email draft and sent it regularly, the effect would still apply. https://twitter.com/cabel/status/715769273545785344 https://twitter.com/cabel/status/715769273545785344
  - Mithaldu 11y ago
    The tweet i linked contains those details. ;)
  - dilap 11y ago
    That's a pretty bad bug! I imagine a pretty standard behavior would be open a compose window, notice the new button and click it out of curiosity (safely, since you have a blank email), and then go ahead with your normal email.
  - JonnieCache 11y ago
    That is brutal. I guess this kind of thing is why we no longer have flight simulators in our spreadsheets and so forth.
    - TillE 11y ago
      It's hard to screw things up too badly with something like the flight simulator. It's just a hidden toy completely disconnected from the rest of the program. But when you start messing with the user's content as a joke, god help you.

bostonpete 11y ago

Well, to be fair, I suspect PM's/managers/PR representatives HATE when angry engineers go on knee-jerk rants about how a bug which they know nothing about is a "feature"... :-)

SloopJon 11y ago

Bugs absolutely can originate in the analysis and design phases. In fact, they tend to be the most expensive ones.

infogulch 11y ago
Yes, the word "bug" isn't restricted to only implementation, but it certainly has that connotation. In deanCommie's case, it sounds like the PM is using the existing connotation of the word "bug" to assign blame to the implementation when it correctly implements the broken design. When the list of "bugs" are used in performance metrics which affect your career, correctly assigning blame becomes important.
- hirsin 11y ago
  Agreed, bug can lack nuance. We have subtypes for our bugs in our tracker and try to use them liberally. Generally spec defect (as opposed to code defect) is only used when someone closes a bug "by design", at which point you say the design is wrong.
  - infogulch 11y ago
    I like that flow: open bug > close as by-design > reopen as spec-defect > change spec > re-implement new spec
    - hirsin 11y ago
      It's an effective way of putting power in the hands of people impacted, for better or for worse. I've certainly reopened "by design" bugs in areas I don't own because I think the design it wrong. Done with tact (and usually a note explaining/alerting the person) it generally goes over well.

matwood 11y ago

Bugs can happen at any stage of the development cycle. Typically the farther away a bug is found from the stage it entered the more expensive it is to fix. EDIT Wording, pre-coffee.

dominotw 11y ago

A bug doesn't necessarily mean bug in implementation/code.