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I think the best thing to do is to sit down and come up with a list of parts of the app that need to be touched to complete what they are asking for. When you l
by zackola 16y ago
I think the best thing to do is to sit down and come up with a list of parts of the app that need to be touched to complete what they are asking for. When you lay it all out, even at a skeletal level, clearly there are a lot of moving parts right? We sometimes get the taunt that "oh come on, it's only another if statement", but besides the shit code and maintenance nightmare that kind of thinking/implementation causes, when we lay it out for a few minutes the complexity becomes apparent - add a column to the database here - oh crap that migration will take 20 minutes to run - oh crap, we need to make sure that field is going to be indexed properly, create the frontend to modify it - oh crap, it has to work for the clients still using IE6?, oh crap! they need it to print nicely too? etc...
There's no need for anger or to become irate - it's a matter of education. I'm sure there's many a HN reader who has poo-pooed non-technical business types for the perceived easiness of their jobs, and for some posers it's deserved, but you don't really know that until you take the time to understand the other person's reality.
- dkarl 16y agoI think the best thing to do is to sit down and come up with a list of parts of the app that need to be touched to complete what they are asking for. It's really hard to do this, because it feels like cataloging and advertising all the ways I failed as a designer.
- nl 16y agoIf it makes you feel any better: The iPhone 4G does not look like the iPhone 3G Google has reinvented their entire crawling infrastructure at least 4 times. When evaluating leaders historical actions, historians often say that it is unfair to evaluate their decisions in the light of information which they were unaware of. Perhaps you may like to consider something similar.
- stcredzero 16y agoIt's really hard to do this, because it feels like cataloging and advertising all the ways I failed as a designer. How do you think you become a better designer?
- dkarl 16y agoYeah, but it doesn't help in a situation where you're trying to stand up for yourself and defend your judgment to a boss or client. You're using an example of your past failed judgment and foresight to argue for the accuracy of your current judgment and foresight.