Every software team claims to build “intuitive” interfaces. It’s become meaningless praise, like calling food “artisanal” or describing a startup as “disruptive.” The word obscures more than it reveals. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: no interface is truly intuitive. Every interaction model requires learning. The question isn’t whether users need to learn something, but whether what […]
Software Design
The Hidden Tax of Bad Architecture
Every organization pays two technology budgets. The first appears on your financial statements: infrastructure, licenses, engineers. The second is invisible: the complexity tax on every project, every feature, every maintenance task. McKinsey research puts this hidden cost at 20 to 40 percent of an organization’s entire technology estate. Not a rounding error. A material portion […]
Why Broken Windows Lead to Broken Software
A single unpatched vulnerability. One function that violates your architecture. A test suite nobody trusts. These small compromises don’t stay small. The Broken Windows Theory, originally developed to explain urban decay, offers a powerful lens for understanding why some codebases remain clean while others descend into chaos. The principle is simple: visible signs of neglect […]
The Law of Demeter: Why Objects Shouldn’t Talk to Strangers
The Law of Demeter (LoD) states that each object should only communicate with its immediate neighbors—and no one else. Also known as the Principle of Least Knowledge, this software design guideline encourages loose coupling between components. The law originated in 1987 at Northeastern University during the Demeter Project, a research initiative focused on adaptive programming. […]
Keep It Simple: The Hidden Cost of Complexity
Heavy Boats: The Hidden Cost of Complexity High tides float all boats. But when the tide goes out, the heavy boats find themselves on land. When we build a business—particularly a software business—we tend to make fast decisions and add features with little regard to cost and complexity. During growth phases, this feels rational. Revenue […]