A14M | Slowftware Development
The fastest way to create high-quality software is to develop this software slowly and thoughtfully. It might seem counterintuitive, but by focusing on understanding the problem, designing the right solution, and refining it through iteration and simplification, ends up being faster in the long run.1
Rushing to get an MVP out the door often results in poorly scoped projects and architectural design, technical debt, and “Big balls of Mud” – architectures that are costly to maintain, and slow to fix.
“Perfection is attained, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s observation
The same applies also to software development. Simplicity trumps complexity. Clean, maintainable software is born from stripping down, not piling on. Yet, simplicity doesn’t come quickly. It requires careful thinking, planning, and understanding the problem before jumping into coding.
In 1989, Professor Richard P. Gabriel wrote an essay to describe the dynamics of software acceptance. It is the argument that software quality does not necessarily increase with functionality: that there is a point where less functionality (“worse”) is a preferable option (“better”) in terms of practicality and usability. Software that is limited, but simple to use, may be more appealing to the user and market than the reverse.
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