Blog da chuyen sang dia chi: hoctudau.com

Brooks’ Law

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.

Probably the law I quote the most. I can’t tell you how many times a client has asked, “can’t we just throw another guy at the problem?”

Parkinson’s Law

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

In other words—scope creep. Keep projects short and sweet, otherwise they tend to become unmanageable beasts.

Hoare’s Law of Large Programs

Inside every large problem is a small problem struggling to get out.

A perfect reminder that we often create larger problems from small ones. Always remember to focus on the goal or need, everything else is secondary.

Lister’s Law

People under time pressure don’t think faster.

Tell that to any startup and they will probably show you to the door, but very true. The only result you get from putting people under pressure is unnecessary stress. Take a deep breate and avoid letting your stress become someone else’s.

Pareto Principle

For many phenomena, 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes.

Also known as the “80/20 Rule,” though most people seem to use it incorrectly. I don’t know if I fully believe in this principle. I think we tend to have a false perception that this is true, therefore tend to focus on 20% of the problem, or the dreaded edge case.

The Peter Principle

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

This principle comes in to play when dealing with the opinions of overzealous stakeholders. It can be difficult to call out that you know more about this web stuff than your boss, but you it must be done.

Otherwise…

Conway’s Law

Any piece of software reflects the organizational structure that produced it.

This law is absolutely true of websites as well. Organizations that have bad communication or poorly defined roles often have websites that cost them way more then they should.

Fitts’ Law

The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and the size of the target.

This one seems to be a favorite with speakers at web conferences, but is a handy reminder of information and visual design.

Tesler’s Law of Conservation as Complexity

You cannot reduce the complexity of a given task beyond a certain point. Once you’ve reached that point, you can only shift the burden around.

A good principle of information architecture. Complex tasks tend to be broken up and can often become more confusing in the process. Identify the hard stuff early on and treat it different than everything else.

Occam’s Razor

The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.

This principle is helpful when trying to understand human behavior. Sometimes things just work, you may not think it is right, and you may no understand why, just go with it.

Hofstadter’s Law

A task always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

Isn’t that the truth. The best trick here is to record your time, then you always have a record to refer to. This gives you a good starting point to estimate how long the next task will take.

Ninety-ninety Law

The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time.

The law is absolutely true. Once the end is in sight, the finish line tends to drift into the distance. Keeping development milestones short and sweet tend to help. It allows developers to feel like they’ve accomplished something rather than wallow in a pit of despair.

Hartree’s Law

Whatever the state of a project, the time a project-leader will estimate for completion is constant.

This law always reminds me of the movie Money Pit. Whenever the contractors were asked when the job would be done they said, “oh… in about two weeks” but in reality it took a year. Trying to set the right completion expectation is always hard. I find just being totally honest with the client goes a long way to not setting false hopes.

Jakob’s Law of the Internet User Experience

Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.

Coined by Jakob Nielsen, the king of sameness. While this statement may read like BS, there is some truth it. People adapt to what they know, they have certain assumptions about the way things work that cannot be ignored.

Which could also be said this way…

Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem

The more highly adapted an organism becomes, the less adaptable it is to any new change.

But…

Clarke’s Second Law

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

Coined by Author C. Clarke, I find his laws to be both keen observations as well as powerful reminders to seek out the unknown, question the assumed truth and constantly push for new discovery, invention.