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Yes, so I put analytics in to prove it. I told the project leader that nobody wants a share button there, because of the nature of the data, nobody will share

Yes, so I put analytics in to prove it. I told the project leader that nobody wants a share button there, because of the nature of the data, nobody will share it. They disagreed strongly, suddenly the share button was super important. So I put tracking on it. A year after launch, guess what? Yep that’s right, nobody clicked the button. Not a single user. So I showed them the data and told them I was right. I told them I was sick of not being listened to, and sick of designing and creating software that literally nobody uses, and handed in my resignation Was a good thing in the end because it pushed me onto the entrepreneurial path But I know how much it sucks writing software that no-one wants

SwiftyBug 6y ago
That was porn, wasn't it?
- csteubs 6y ago
  I was thinking credit score myself.
- malux85 6y ago
  Hahahaha I re-read my paragraph and it does sound a bit like that! I wish it was - then there might have been some engineering challenges related to scale, but sadly no, it was a mobile web app for getting small % discounts at stalls at a niche event.
  - rightbyte 6y ago
    Seems like a thing you acctually would want to share? Instead of copy pasting the url which is almost impossible on smart phones nowadays...
    - malux85 6y ago
      It was an info page similar to a terms and conditions page, nobody wants to share that.
      - rightbyte 6y ago
        Ok explains your comment.
- golergka 6y ago
  Nah, there's plenty of sex-positive Twitter accounts that share a lot of porn in the most social way, to the actual living people that follow them, have conversions about it and sometime even meet up in real life.
coding123 6y ago
It was the empty space that was bothering them.
- malux85 6y ago
  No it wasn’t because without it the paragraph content below would move up. (It was on mobile so there’s not a lot of space anyway) Their insistence on the button was a combination of “my application designs are flawless, and should never be questioned” and “I read an article 15 years ago that said put a Facebook button on everything, everywhere because Facebook” It wasn’t even a “ah ha, I got a discount at this cool store” it was a share button on the info page .... it’s like putting a share button on the terms and conditions page. It’s stupid. Nobody wants to share that.
  - coding123 6y ago
    Ah yes, I get that, definitely been in that situation before, ugh sorry.
DonHopkins 6y ago
Were you working for Cirrus Cybernetics Corporation? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsng5_5h3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsng5_5h3g Share and Enjoy!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rawoke083600 6y ago
Ohhh been there ! Executives and managers always think we need a share button ! This will bring in the traffic they say ! I asked would you share this ?? Ja of course they say... Then I asked them when was the last time they "shared" ANYTHING via a share-button, not just this-thing... ANYTHING... They all fell silent. We still don't have a share a button :)
amelius 6y ago
> So I showed them the data and told them I was right. I think we should do this more often. Measure the performance of our managers and confront them with the data.
- amildie 6y ago
  Making the uppers look stupid is a dangerous move in the corporate world.
  - amelius 6y ago
    Yes, but very satisfying.
    - carapace 6y ago
      I once implemented caching middleware complete with logging of request times so we could see which calls would benefit the most from caching. We never turned it on. A few months later our system is on fire so the investors send a guy to babysit us and improve things. He starts writing a profiling tool. He won't listen when I tell him that I've already done it, just ignores me. I got so frustrated that I log into the production system and turn it on manually for about a minute. Email him the resulting log. He makes a histogram in excel (doesn't mention me) and there was much rejoicing. (And we started caching requests and lo, the servers did cool.)
  - tcgv 6y ago
    Exactly my thoughts when reading the original comment. In his case he was already handing in his resignation, so he didn't care too much. Someone who isn't willing to risk their jobs should be careful while proving a someone else wrong as not to offend / publicly shame the other party.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
roguas 6y ago
> But I know how much it sucks writing software that no-one wants To be honest it does not. If you are business-driven person it does, if you are more into the craftsmanship this is a dream scenario. Suddenly a lot of freedom is granted with the lack of users :)
- poutrathor 6y ago
  I think there is a big difference between being business-driven and lack of users.

SwiftyBug 6y ago

That was porn, wasn't it?

csteubs 6y ago
I was thinking credit score myself.
malux85 6y ago
Hahahaha I re-read my paragraph and it does sound a bit like that! I wish it was - then there might have been some engineering challenges related to scale, but sadly no, it was a mobile web app for getting small % discounts at stalls at a niche event.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  Seems like a thing you acctually would want to share? Instead of copy pasting the url which is almost impossible on smart phones nowadays...
  - malux85 6y ago
    It was an info page similar to a terms and conditions page, nobody wants to share that.
    - rightbyte 6y ago
      Ok explains your comment.
golergka 6y ago
Nah, there's plenty of sex-positive Twitter accounts that share a lot of porn in the most social way, to the actual living people that follow them, have conversions about it and sometime even meet up in real life.

coding123 6y ago

It was the empty space that was bothering them.

malux85 6y ago
No it wasn’t because without it the paragraph content below would move up. (It was on mobile so there’s not a lot of space anyway) Their insistence on the button was a combination of “my application designs are flawless, and should never be questioned” and “I read an article 15 years ago that said put a Facebook button on everything, everywhere because Facebook” It wasn’t even a “ah ha, I got a discount at this cool store” it was a share button on the info page .... it’s like putting a share button on the terms and conditions page. It’s stupid. Nobody wants to share that.
- coding123 6y ago
  Ah yes, I get that, definitely been in that situation before, ugh sorry.

DonHopkins 6y ago

Were you working for Cirrus Cybernetics Corporation? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsng5_5h3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsng5_5h3g Share and Enjoy!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

rawoke083600 6y ago

Ohhh been there ! Executives and managers always think we need a share button ! This will bring in the traffic they say ! I asked would you share this ?? Ja of course they say... Then I asked them when was the last time they "shared" ANYTHING via a share-button, not just this-thing... ANYTHING... They all fell silent. We still don't have a share a button :)

amelius 6y ago

> So I showed them the data and told them I was right. I think we should do this more often. Measure the performance of our managers and confront them with the data.

amildie 6y ago
Making the uppers look stupid is a dangerous move in the corporate world.
- amelius 6y ago
  Yes, but very satisfying.
  - carapace 6y ago
    I once implemented caching middleware complete with logging of request times so we could see which calls would benefit the most from caching. We never turned it on. A few months later our system is on fire so the investors send a guy to babysit us and improve things. He starts writing a profiling tool. He won't listen when I tell him that I've already done it, just ignores me. I got so frustrated that I log into the production system and turn it on manually for about a minute. Email him the resulting log. He makes a histogram in excel (doesn't mention me) and there was much rejoicing. (And we started caching requests and lo, the servers did cool.)
- tcgv 6y ago
  Exactly my thoughts when reading the original comment. In his case he was already handing in his resignation, so he didn't care too much. Someone who isn't willing to risk their jobs should be careful while proving a someone else wrong as not to offend / publicly shame the other party.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

roguas 6y ago

> But I know how much it sucks writing software that no-one wants To be honest it does not. If you are business-driven person it does, if you are more into the craftsmanship this is a dream scenario. Suddenly a lot of freedom is granted with the lack of users :)

poutrathor 6y ago
I think there is a big difference between being business-driven and lack of users.