

Applying Dan Ariely's TED talk to software development - dpaluy
http://softwareleadweekly.com/issues/33/4

======
incision
The TED Talk [0] being referenced is excellent.

What rang particularly true to me wasn't harder work feeling more rewarding,
but that people are willing to work longer and for less direct pay when they
see that their work is valued or at least not immediately discarded.

0:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work.html)

------
not_that_noob
Yes exactly. In the startup world, we build products for users - they are the
ultimate arbiters of a product's value. It doesn't matter whether the value is
delivered by working two weeks or two years - all that matters to the user is
the value delivered.

So smart founders should find ways of getting to that value delivery point via
the shortest, cheapest most efficient path. Because that way you win over your
competitors who might not.

BTW, this is also why companies led by technical founders often beat those
that are not. If you're a non-technical founder, you are beholden to the
techno-priesthood, which may care about building things in the most perfect
way, which often ends up being an inefficient path.

Note that this is not meant as a knock on writing good maintainable and
elegant code. It is more an affirmation of minimizing work that does not move
you closer to the point of value delivery for your user.

------
ronilan
> "Embrace simplicity in your product and in your code. The value is in what
> gets used, not what gets built."

There are all sorts of values. Usage value is only one of. If all that gets
built is judged by what gets used, then a lot of great things won't get built.

~~~
not_that_noob
There is a huge difference between building a product/startup and building
something for the sake of building it. The first almost exclusively lives or
dies by the value perceived by its users.

~~~
ronilan
1\. "The value is in what gets used" 2\. "the value perceived by its users."

Those are two types of value and they are, like, totally, not the same...

~~~
rickcecil
there is also marketing value. features that may rarely get used but many
potential customers won't give your product a second glance if you don't have
them.

------
mmorris
I really enjoyed Dan's book Predictably Irrational. If you have any interest
in human motivation and rationality, I'd recommend you pick up a copy:
[http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-
Expande...](http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-
Edition/dp/0061353248)

~~~
alex_c
He also has an excellent course on Coursera on this subject:

[https://www.coursera.org/course/behavioralecon](https://www.coursera.org/course/behavioralecon)

------
rdudekul
Awesome analysis!

Questions applicable to every hard working startup:

    
    
      + Do we solve a real problem?
    
      + Do we have customers who find our solution useful?
    
      + Can we make enough money to make our solution a sustainable business?
    

Questions for the execution team:

    
    
      + Will we know when and how people hear about our solution?
    
      + Will we be able to understand if and how they use our solution?
    
      + Can we change things quickly enough to improve our solution (based on learning)?
    
      + Can we measure the quality (usage) of our changes?
    
      + Can we reduce amount of work and test for need earlier (think MVP)?

