4 ms·

Ask HN: Does iterating on a project come easy to you?

10 points by combiclickwise 16y ago

not for me. I find it easy to get to the first release but it gets tougher every time I iterate. its a mental block as well as a logistical one. addition of features becomes tougher (not dependent on the inherent complexity of a feature) and the UI itself becomes a challenge. I know each of us is different and so I ask you to please share some tips, if you have, as to how you deal with this.

cmelbye 16y ago
It's easy until I hit a problem with the UI that needs to be addressed. That's really my weak spot.
- combiclickwise 16y ago
  same here. I tend to struggle with the visual layout in my head. its easy to see the first version. but addition of features, especially ones that you had not thought of when starting out, makes me struggle with the layout visualization. managing iterations, to me, is beginning to seem like a big unexplored science and art. big enough for someone to write a book about this as the central topic, I feel.
damoncali 16y ago
That mirrors my experience. It's easy to release a project when there are no users. You just barf code out and deploy it. Once people start using it, or paying for it, you just have to be more careful. A feature that you could whip out in an hour with an 90% chance of working bug-free now takes a day, because you need it to be 99%. It becomes easy to put things off "until you have time to do it right" - even small and easy things. The way to combat this is to work on your environment. Build a solid staging environment. Automate some integration tests (http://fakeapp.com http://fakeapp.com is awesome for this) for the must-have functionality. Work on your admin dashboard so you know the instant something goes wrong. In other words, build the tools that make your next deployment as worry free as is practical. For me, the friction and misery of the QA cycle slows down my releases until I get all this stuff right. It's a head game. I know when to stop writing tests when I'd rather be working on the app.
- combiclickwise 16y ago
  Thanks for the link. Will check it out. yes, the ide, the staging environment and versioning systems are i guess very important. also, I find that new projects start to look very appealing because of the lack of that entry barrier and lower costs of making a mistake. Then it becomes a mental barrier to focus.
staunch 16y ago
Cleaning up the codebase and taking the time to make it super maintainable/configurable/flexible is huge. It's worth spending as much time as it takes to get it to the point where it's a pleasure (not just tolerable) to work with. It's just like cooking in a messy and crowded kitchen vs a clean and spacious one.

cmelbye 16y ago

It's easy until I hit a problem with the UI that needs to be addressed. That's really my weak spot.

combiclickwise 16y ago
same here. I tend to struggle with the visual layout in my head. its easy to see the first version. but addition of features, especially ones that you had not thought of when starting out, makes me struggle with the layout visualization. managing iterations, to me, is beginning to seem like a big unexplored science and art. big enough for someone to write a book about this as the central topic, I feel.

damoncali 16y ago

That mirrors my experience. It's easy to release a project when there are no users. You just barf code out and deploy it. Once people start using it, or paying for it, you just have to be more careful. A feature that you could whip out in an hour with an 90% chance of working bug-free now takes a day, because you need it to be 99%. It becomes easy to put things off "until you have time to do it right" - even small and easy things. The way to combat this is to work on your environment. Build a solid staging environment. Automate some integration tests (http://fakeapp.com http://fakeapp.com is awesome for this) for the must-have functionality. Work on your admin dashboard so you know the instant something goes wrong. In other words, build the tools that make your next deployment as worry free as is practical. For me, the friction and misery of the QA cycle slows down my releases until I get all this stuff right. It's a head game. I know when to stop writing tests when I'd rather be working on the app.

combiclickwise 16y ago
Thanks for the link. Will check it out. yes, the ide, the staging environment and versioning systems are i guess very important. also, I find that new projects start to look very appealing because of the lack of that entry barrier and lower costs of making a mistake. Then it becomes a mental barrier to focus.

staunch 16y ago

Cleaning up the codebase and taking the time to make it super maintainable/configurable/flexible is huge. It's worth spending as much time as it takes to get it to the point where it's a pleasure (not just tolerable) to work with. It's just like cooking in a messy and crowded kitchen vs a clean and spacious one.