Why most engineers design systems too early
Premature system design is a common issue in engineering teams, often leading to unnecessary complexity and wasted resources. Engineers tend to jump into designing systems before fully understanding the requirements and user needs, which can result in over-engineering. A more effective approach involves focusing on learning what is truly needed before committing to a specific design.
- ▪Engineers often begin designing systems immediately after a new feature is proposed, without user feedback or clear requirements.
- ▪This premature design can lead to over-engineering, where complex systems are built for needs that may not exist.
- ▪Experienced engineers prioritize learning about user needs over jumping into system design.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Why most engineers design systems too earlyWhy most engineers design systems too early, why this happens, and what to do instead.Lucy BattenMay 25, 20261ShareThere’s a moment that happens in almost every engineering team I have ever observed.The product manager drops a new feature in Slack. Maybe it’s a notification system, a billing module, or a search endpoint. Before anyone has written a single line of code, before anyone has talked to a single user, an engineer opens a Miro board and starts drawing boxes.Stack and Scale is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.SubscribeQueues appear. Services multiply. A caching layer materialises from nothing.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hacker News (Newest).
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Hacker News (Newest)
