Write Satisfying Software - tyleo.com

Developers should focus on writing satisfying software—software that meets the needs of users—rather than pursuing ideal software that aligns with personal or technical perfection. While striving for high standards has value, developers often fall into traps such as over-focusing on code quality, personal identification with their work, or enjoying the creative challenge of writing ideal software. To avoid these traps, developers need to stay disciplined and prioritize user satisfaction and feedback over their personal ideals and ambitions.

Software developers have a habit of falling into traps. Traps make it difficult to write software and prevent or delay the needs of software users from being met. Among the most dangerous traps developers encounter is the pull, the siren's song, to chase ideals well beyond what's needed to satisfy users. While it is commendable that developers strive for ideals, they must always be on guard that their path is aligned with the software's purpose. These tendencies in software development can be considered as two poles of a spectrum:

Software is written with specific objectives. Outside the realm of personal projects, these are rarely objectives of the developer themselves. Taking business as an example: satisfying users furthers business objectives; furthering business objectives makes money; developers are paid by the business. The incentive alignment should compel developers to write satisfying software. But, while always desired, this is not consistently achieved. Three forces conspire to divert these incentives and prevent developers from writing satisfying software:

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