In the publishing world, there is something called vanity publishing. This is when an author has written a book, and they pay a publisher to publish the book for them. Sometimes the quality is good, sometimes it is not. Often the author is told the quality is good regardless.
Because software developers are creative people, I find it is easy for them (and me!) to get off track . They think that this feature or that feature would be a good idea and people will surely find it useful, right? I am as guilty as the next coder of doing this.
The way I stop myself from wandering off on the scenic route is to think to myself, am I solving the users problem?
If not then why am I writing this piece of code? And this usually pulls me back onto the correct path, back through the woods.
So ask yourself, are you solving your users problems? Or are you a vanity writer? I would love to know so why not leave a comment.
(Originally published at http://foxdellfolio.com/if-you-are-not-solving-a-problem-why-are-you-writing-it/ on the 24th January 2014 by Chris O'Dell)