The Rise of Worse is Better

#1

Post by joemocquant » Sat, Feb 08, 2014, 9:08 PM UTC

The Rise of Worse is Better
dreamsongs.com

Re: The Rise of Worse is Better

#2

Post by lkesteloot » Sat, Feb 08, 2014, 10:14 PM UTC

JavaScript is classic worse-is-better.

Re: The Rise of Worse is Better

#3

Post by Avitas » Sat, Feb 08, 2014, 10:43 PM UTC

The use of the word 'worse' is misleading. The article wanders. I do not feel it is worthwhile.

Re: The Rise of Worse is Better

#4

Post by parallelist » Sat, Feb 08, 2014, 11:08 PM UTC

Avitas wrote: post #3

The use of the word 'worse' is misleading. The article wanders. I do not feel it is worthwhile.

I find the worse entirely accurate.

This is a classic piece of programmer lore that goes a long way to describing why the software industry is the way it is today i.e. why everything sucks so much. My only criticism I have of it is that he mischaracterizes the-right-thing as being monolithically designed and slow performing (towards the end of the page). The-right-thing to me is always functionally and computationally superior, it just takes longer to make.

Re: The Rise of Worse is Better

#5

Post by goblin89 » Sat, Feb 08, 2014, 11:27 PM UTC

Avitas wrote: post #3

The use of the word 'worse' is misleading. The article wanders. I do not feel it is worthwhile.

I suspect the essay itself might be an example of worse-is-better principle applied in practice. :)

My first impression was that author basically recommends quickly releasing ‘minimal viable products’ and expands on what should be considered ‘minimally viable’ for some specific kinds of software.

‘Worse is better’ is an interesting way to put it, though. I think it can be applied widely.

One way to avoid perfectionism is to constantly remind ourselves what's important, what's in MVP. Sure, there are a lot of things that are important for good product, but some are more important and we should focus on them first.

On the other hand, we can just remember that ‘worse is better’. No need to make yourself focus on what's important—it will come naturally once you label everything else ‘worse’.

It's hard to explain and I may have missed author's point, but that was one of takeaways for me.