Re:Effective Engineer – Notes
by davidjnelson on Friday December 29, 2017 @05:54PM
(#16032572)
What’s the right level of completion for validation? A few weeks for a prototype seems reasonable, but even that can result in feedback that isn’t or isn’t considered fast enough.
Re:Effective Engineer – Notes
by brucephillips on Friday December 29, 2017 @05:56PM
(#16032591)
It depends. Easily communicated product ideas can be validated on day 0 by talking to users.
Less easily communicated ideas often need at least a demo. Dropbox is one example.
Why the word leverage?
Time is our most limited resource. And so the way to really increase our impact (say by 10x) is not to increase the number of hours you work, but to increase your rate of impact, which is how I define leverage in the book.
Another way to think about leverage is in terms of a lever, which lets you apply a little bit of force, have it amplified, and then move large boulders. Many of the stories and strategies from the book talk about these leverage points in engineering, e.g. investing in iterating speed or validating your ideas early and often, where small bits of effort end up having a disproportionate impact.