[Cuis] Economic Design

[Phil (list)]

Juan,

On Jun 5, 2012, at 8:26 AM, Juan Vuletich wrote:

> 
> I think this text is a great lesson on software design.
> 
> It agrees with Dan Ingalls' wonderful "Design Principles Behind Smalltalk" http://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmps112/Spring03/readings/Ingalls81.html . Dan says "Good Design: A system should be built with a minimum set of unchangeable parts; those parts should be as general as possible; and all parts of the system should be held in a uniform framework. "
> 
> The Mercedes article also sheds new light on why simplicity in design is of paramount importance: It allows us to ship stuff that is better tested and more robust. It makes for a system that breaks less often and is easier to repair.
> 
> It also states that exaggerated requirements go against quality, by raising costs for no reason. Do "the simplest thing that could possibly work". "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler". In short, it reduces both short-term and long-term costs.
> 

It's interesting how relatively few organizations and projects take a similar approach to the article and instead seem to become slaves to the cruft (from all perspectives whether product, service, or process) that builds up over time.  I think it's because it's easier for most people just to keep on doing what they've been doing before and tacking on whatever the new 'thing' is on top of it (in corporations that's a pretty safe way to make sure you don't get fired.)  On the other hand, I think what you've been doing with Cuis aligns with the philosophy described in the article quite nicely.

Thanks,
Phil