Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#1

Post by panqueca » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 1:53 PM UTC

If you're feeling useless, remember that I exist.

Let me give you some context. I work in the pipeline automation department of a company. Last month, our team decided to deprecate an internal tool due to several maintenance issues. So we created a pipeline that automates the implementation of this legacy tool, in case other teams needed to use it. (WHAT???)

This month, a guy in my team found some improvement scenarios in the automation. So I was chosen to implement this changes in this legacy internal tool.

The thing is, after I finished the adjustments, my pull requests are not getting approved due to adjustments meticulously requested by this guy in my team. Adjustments to make the pipeline automation even more resilient in complete unlikely scenarios.

But this same week, my TL sent notices to all the other teams informing them that this internal tool has been deprecated and they should no longer use it. So what sense does it make to have a pipeline automation that implements the use of the deprecated tool? And if it has been deprecated, why would I need to make an adjustment for the automation to be even resilient if no one should be able to use it anymore? So why am I being allocated to work on in such waste of time like it? (WTF???)

This makes me wonder, how many people have to work on something that they see no sense in doing at all.

So once again, if you're feeling useless, remember that I exist.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#2

Post by theGeatZhopa » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:14 PM UTC

It's never useless. You'll not be dumber afterwards. See as additional skill and it looks good on your resume "did that, got this"

It's all a matter of selling it with perspective :)

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#3

Post by ac2u » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:25 PM UTC

Maybe 13 years ago when I was a fresh and inexperienced dev in my first job, I was once asked to work on a C# side project at work where people could run common dev workflows (think running database migrations, deployments etc) by specifying them as XML instead of scripts.

I had fun, eventually they wanted things like conditional workflows which I had to think how to model in XML.

To anyone with even a bit of experience, they can tell that it wasn't long until this not-invented-here-driven-monstrosity of an idea was abandoned as it's not something you can do as a couple of hours per week side project and have it be massively useful in a short timeframe.

So it was a useless effort for the company, but as a very inexperienced dev, it was the first project where afterwards explanations of how things like lisp worked started to make sense to me intuitively considering how backwards I was in my naive attempts.

Even the project you're describing, learn to be ok with looking back on parts of your career and being thankful that only your employers money was being burned on "useless" things while you were taking forward the valuable lessons.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#4

Post by cableshaft » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:28 PM UTC

I (as well as a few others on the team) spent six months working on a new web app that my company had decided would be the future of the department (my boss said those exact words to me), and that they'd sell to two different major clients (one was a major pharmacy and another was a major health insurance company. You've almost certainly heard of them).

We already had them as clients for other services we provided, this was just something new that the higher ups were sure they'd go for (I think it solved a real need of theirs, their call center people were doing a lot of looking things up manually across like 60 excel spreadsheets during calls, IIRC, and part of what this did was combine all that data into a central area that's easily searchable, plus some other nice-to-have call center features like being to schedule appointments or something, I think).

We got a nearly production-ready MVP in front of them and demo'd it, they seemed interested but we could never get them to sign a contract, for months. One of them eventually decided to recreate something similar in-house and actually had the gall to request that we send them all the business logic we came up with while doing it (for free), the other just never signed a contract.

Well anyway, after failing to get those two clients, the execs must have decided that it was no longer the future of the department, and was quietly shelved.

I might as well not have done anything that six months. Although I did get a bit more comfortable with using Angular at the time, thanks to that project.

That company did that multiple times, btw. Because of the nature of the health industry, and how often they drag their heels for contracts, they often decided they had to start work without a contract in place or else wouldn't have it ready by the annual health insurance open enrollment period, which is when health insurance companies were busiest and where companies that offered services to those companies (our company) made all of their money (think of it kind of like how game companies don't want to miss the holiday season for their new releases). But it resulted in them doing work and not getting paid for it. I wasn't surprised to find out the department was eventually shut down a few years after I quit.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#5

Post by keepamovin » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:34 PM UTC

This is hilariously written, thank you.

I’m still under the mistaken impression that I’m useful so I can’t provide any examples.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#6

Post by resource_waste » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:34 PM UTC

Trying to find the coolest print-in-place 3d printed toys.

Last year I gave customized fidget cubes for christmas, they were so popular I ended up getting requests for them.

Looking for something similar, the tri-color filaments make me want to re-do everything to see how it appears differently.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#7

Post by globalise83 » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:36 PM UTC

The big question is: have you clearly pointed out to your team lead that the business value of you working on this project is actually negative given the opportunity cost? Or did you just accept being assigned the ticket without providing any push-back?

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#8

Post by andy24 » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:38 PM UTC

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#9

Post by mtmail » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:38 PM UTC

Friend of mine worked through 400 pages of specifications for a big pharma software (lots of Java, CRUD, microservices). The project started late, it took longer than expected and by middle of the project they learned the client already migrated to another software.

So the team had continue for several months to fulfill the catalogue of specifications, pass (external) QA and already knew the software will never be used.

He said it was all custom and exclusive and couldn't be reused or sold to another client.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?

#10

Post by donatj » Fri, Apr 05, 2024, 2:38 PM UTC

I have spent sixteen years working on a note keeping app that only I use.

I even took the registration page down after GDPR out of an abundance of caution.

I use it every day and really like it, but every time I have shown it to a friend they just shrug