Simple is better
Products don’t (and shouldn’t) need to be complex. Developers (me) often start with the features when building their own stuff.
This list of features becomes long, and ambitious - and isn’t usually goal-oriented (if your objective is to get a product in front of people + help them do things more effectively).
This is an anti-pattern.
Products that people want or need are simple and often really good. The products that you like the most are likely the ones that have one or two features that solve your problem. They get the job done, and that’s enough.
*************************************************Image generated by Stable Diffusion. Prompt: “A developer getting lost in building a complex product, instead of focusing on something simple.”
Stopping & Starting
In 2022 I started (and stopped) five new projects.
The reason I started these projects was that I had laundry lists of features that I thought would be really cool (to build), but in hindsight, they aren’t really useful or valuable to use.
The reason I stopped on these projects was two-fold:
- I got bored
- I got the dopamine I wanted from building the really cool features.
Solve your own problems
If you want to build things, I’ve learned that it is just better to focus on what you need and want, instead of trying to create a complex (but “cool”) piece of software.
Of course, if building cool software for the sake of it is something that you are passionate about, then don’t stop doing it. Personally, I want to craft products. I don’t mind if the product ends up being a CRUD app, or a spreadsheet.
My strategy for building useful things is now:
- Keep it simple.
- Focus on the features that I need and want, instead of trying to make the product complex.
- Iterate on features that are useful and valuable.
- Create products that are enjoyable to use.
I think most importantly, I want to build things that selfishly solve my own problems.
Reality
None of us have infinite time to build infinite things. We can only choose a handful of experiments to run (that’s assuming that building side projects is something that you’re interested in).
Between work, real-life responsibilities, sleep, exercise, and other fulfilling stuff (reading, video games, etc) - there are a finite amount of hours a day (or even a week), that you can dedicate to building ‘cool’ things.
Ideally, I want to dedicate more time over time to doing the latter, but for now - I need to:
- Choose the things I build carefully, and intently ⇒ Be selfish and solve my own problems.
- To keep it devastatingly simple ⇒ I should be able to work an hour or two a day on something and make considerable progress.
- Launch fast ⇒ Because this is generally a good thing and a useful way to figure out if something is too complex.
Ultimately, working on side projects is something I enjoy doing. I enjoy doing it for the sake of the thing, but I’ve been demotivated recently because another reason I enjoy building things is that people might use them. People can’t use something that I never launch or finish.
Although I don’t tweet often, you can follow me on Twitter for occasional updates on what I’m working on.