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by mindcrime 5856 days ago
Ok, sure, you have to draw a line somewhere. Point conceded. But the position taken by the parent article seems to be pretty close to "don't make a damn thing configurable" and that is a position I think is flat wrong - for many classes of software.

Then again, my interest is more in complex, multi-user, enterprise systems, where you are likely to have more varying forces at work (integration with other systems, needs of different classes of users, etc.) than something like, say, a TODO app for ones iPhone.
1 comments
Retric 5855 days ago
I have yet to see a highly complex piece of enterprise software that people actually liked to use. Honestly, I think the current state of enterprise throw everything and the kitchen sink at the problem software just demonstrates the downsides of a complex and highly configurable system. If you don’t know what people will be using it for then you can’t build a streamlined system.
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mindcrime 5855 days ago 

  I have yet to see a highly complex piece of enterprise 
  software that people actually liked to use. Honestly, I 
  think the current state of enterprise throw everything 
  and the kitchen sink at the problem software just 
  demonstrates the downsides of a complex and highly 
  configurable system. If you don’t know what people will 
  be using it for then you can’t build a streamlined system.
True, true. And that's why I find articles like the parent useful, because they do serve to remind use that we should strive for simplicity... That is, while I may largely disagree with what seems to be the "logical conclusion" of the article, I don't disagree that things should be, as they say, "as simple as possible, but no simpler." And since I am working on some "complex, enterprise software" - and being aware of how notorious this kind of stuff is for NOT being friendly and easy to use - I feel drawn to try and break that trend by making things that are both powerful and flexible, but without being confusing and difficult. It's a difficult balance to strike, and I don't claim to have all the answers, but at least acknowledging the problem and having that as a goal is a start, I think.
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