How I Think About Systems
My principles for developing and evaluating systems, processes, and technology
I’m someone who deals with many different domains: software, mechanical and electrical systems, manufacturing, media, workflows, etc. In time, I have developed strong preferences and principles that I apply to my work, which I will attempt to describe here.
The tech that we have is often unnecessarily complex. Many things don’t work well and are a spaghetti mess of patched fixes. So many products are proprietary and get discarded when something breaks. And to top it off, companies are purposefully making products worse with the intention of walling in their users to increase revenue, instead of having the user’s best interests in mind. This is happening with both digital and physical systems.
The following is what I keep in mind when working on a project. It’s a philosophy that has developed from every large or small annoyance, roadblock, and endless frustration I’ve had with various systems.
Simplicity is key
There’s the KISS principle: Keep It Stupid Simple. In most cases, ease of use should be universal and non-negotiable. Systems need to be open source, interchangeable, and have defaults that work, but still provide advanced functionality when needed. The world absolutely needs complex systems to run, but don’t complicate it more than necessary.
I don’t mind over-engineered systems, as long as they’re robust, well documented, and not bloated.
Quality
Do work the right way. The effort and polish you put into something should be able to be traced right back to you. Don’t cut corners, it will probably come back to bite you later on. Take pride in your work.
Note: perfectionism often kills projects. It’s better to finalize a project with some flaws rather than never releasing it. You can always make an improved version 2 later on, or it might inspire someone else to build on what you made.
Advancing technology
Technology is a major defining thing in our lives. I often think of how this or that thing could be improved. While over-reliance on certain technology is decidedly negative, advancing technology in the right direction has major positive impacts on the world (think of the printing press, steam engine, transistor, etc.).
I have been inspired by many science fiction ideas, some of which I believe we can develop in real life with enough effort. This is a major driving factor in how I think and the projects that I dream of working on someday. Why not at least try to create scifi technology in real life?
Design
Design aesthetic is often an overlooked thing when it comes to developing new tech, but it plays an important part in the evaluation of the result. A scifi styled design makes the technology feel like the future you’re trying to build.
A good looking design isn’t always the most user-friendly, so it often comes down to balancing the design between looks and practical usability.
Optimization
There’s always something to improve. Often it’s removing something, changing something around, or a small change that increases efficiency or speed. If there are significant potential gains from optimizing something, don’t hesitate to do it. It’ll save you a lot of time down the road.
Reliability
Reliability is a really important thing to keep in mind. Things need to just work. All components should strive to exceed the required quality for any given system. Failure in critical systems can be catastrophic, and it often starts with a small problem in a small component somewhere. Mechanical components should have wide 150% - 300% safety margins. Software should be extensively evaluated for bugs and security risks. Trade-offs still exist, like weight vs strength, or quality vs price. But the world is a rough place, so let’s build things to the best of our ability.
Documentation
While it might take more time and effort than you want to spend, documentation is super important. If I pause a project for a couple months, I want to be able to pick up right where I left off when I come back to it. Documentation is especially important when working on a project that might be handed over to someone else in the future.