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IKEA-Oriented Development

taylor.town

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Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#51

Post by kevincox »

voz_ wrote: post #23
euroderf wrote: post #6

Another lesson of Ikea is that often you cannot move them from one home/apartment to another, because if you try to take it apart and then reassemble it, it's never the same. To extend this via analogy to the software realm, a deep refactoring is problematic whereas OTOH a complete rewrite is a better idea. Which has not borne borne out by industry experience.

A rewrite is almost never the right choice.

If you have well defined components it is often reasonable to rewrite them. Rewriting an entire project is likely a mistake. I think the mistake is generally the size. If you lock up half of the team and have them rewrite for 2 years then you are likely going to have time. If you slice off components that can be rewritten by a few team members in a couple of weeks you can likely get a good quality result.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#52

Post by wartijn_ »

aidenn0 wrote: post #18
switch007 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had mixed success with their manuals. While I admit there is a certain genius to it, I don't fully share your enthusiasm. Maybe I'm stupid but I feel like some words could really help to speed up the deciphering of the instructions.

One piece of Ikea furniture I assembled had two different depths of the same diameter nut. A single sentence warning about using the correct depth nut at one point would have saved me approximately 90 minutes of frustration.

Their manuals start with a list of parts, including the part number. You can see that number in the build steps too. If there are two parts that look alike, you can put them in two separate piles next to each other, so you know you should check if you've got the right one when you need a part of one of these piles.

I usually sort all the different small parts at the beginning of building something. It's nice to know that all the parts are there and you don't need to search for them.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#54

Post by ml_giant »

Gordonjcp wrote: post #40
ml_giant wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes you may need one when putting in those wooden rod things? Not sure what they are called. I typically just use the butt end of the screwdriver when I have to put them in Edit: didn’t see the other reply mentioning the same thing :(

> those wooden rod things Dowels.

I like my name for them better!

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#55

Post by kevincox »

blowski wrote: post #13
amemisoglu wrote: post #5

From "quality" perspective, don't imitiate Ikea :)

Why not? The quality is good enough that millions of people around the world are using it in their house right now, profitably for Ikea. I'd say that's a very good definition of quality to imitated.

Exactly. I wouldn't dance on most of it but it serves its purpose quite adequately. I find that IKEA has consistently good quality. Very little of there stuff is great quality, but almost nothing is of a low quality. It is all adequate at a very reasonable price.

I agree that if you are expecting top quality you will be disappointed. But for the price it is hard to find much of better quality. Especially not so consistently.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#56

Post by dclowd9901 »

> Write code that can be replaced. Writing code is easy, but editing code is hard. Make inputs and outputs extremely clear; everything between is disposable detail. We intuitively call irreplacable code “complicated” or “spaghetti”.

I like this rule especially for test code. There’s already a level of abstraction going on with test code which makes it more difficult to reason about. Don’t make it clever.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#57

Post by alex3305 »

agloe_dreams wrote: post #50
alex3305 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get where you are coming from, but why not? What IKEA produces for the price is seriously impressive. Also why would you need particle board or MDF when filling furniture with cardboard is way cheaper and mostly fits the bill. However, I think that we as software developers are more like hand crafted furniture makers. And that there is WYSIWYG (like Squarespace) for the masses. And IMHO there is nothing wrong with…

I would argue the LACK table is the textbook definition of a good MVP. Minimal, light, affordable, functional. Granted, I remember when it was $7.99, but the point stands.

And you can make a LackRack from it [1].

1. https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#58

Post by dclowd9901 »

amemisoglu wrote: post #5

From "quality" perspective, don't imitiate Ikea :)

Tbf there’s two different levels of IKEA. There’s the flimsy, throwaway stuff (good for what it is) and then there’s a higher quality level. The higher quality items come at a price that is commensurate with their quality level but definitely jarring compared to the pricing of other IKEA items.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#59

Post by waboremo »

naet wrote: post #29
euroderf wrote: post #6

Another lesson of Ikea is that often you cannot move them from one home/apartment to another, because if you try to take it apart and then reassemble it, it's never the same. To extend this via analogy to the software realm, a deep refactoring is problematic whereas OTOH a complete rewrite is a better idea. Which has not borne borne out by industry experience.

I have moved many times with Ikea furniture and purchased it used with no problems. Ikea furniture is some of the most disassemble and reassemble-able furniture I've seen.

Would relate to this. Even with normal wear and tear, reassembly isn't a problem.

Perhaps the difference stems from how rushed/impatient one was during initial assembly. I do know a couple pieces where that happened and it resulted in wonky furniture because this knob was jammed in or that bit was misaligned for months. Would make sense considering a lot of people feel excited after purchasing it that they don't take their time with assembly.

This is mostly for the older pieces, I know a lot of them now you have to really mess up for it to affect future reassembly.

Re: IKEA-Oriented Development

#60

Post by josephcsible »

belval wrote: post #12
atoav wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved a ikea shelve through 3 flats and two nations. Ultimately I gifted it away because the new space wouldn't fit it and my requirements had changed, but I know people who are in the 5th flat. As long as you are treating the stuff right it should survive a few assembly-disassembly-cycles. Key is of couese to sort the screws, mark the parts with tape, etc.

Anecdotally I have had trouble reconciling this seemingly prevalent "you can't disassemble Ikea furniture" with my own experience. It's not made for it sure but bookshelves, bed frames and tables can all be reassembled reasonably well. Anything smaller you can just put in the truck when moving.

For bookshelves in particular (and wardrobes which have it too), I've found that trying to remove the nailed-in particleboard from the back usually goes really poorly. For furniture that doesn't have that, I agree with you.
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