I often wonder how much of that 20% of functionality is really needed. What if we as society spend the 80% effort that goes into customising things into building more that uses the readily available features? This is not an argument of quantity over quality. It’s just that I’ve seen so much effort going into doing the last 20% with so little outcome that it has me made skeptical.
Of course, for products deeper in the stack we should strive to implement that last 20% because the quality of the stack depends on it. I just don’t think it’s worth it for leaf/end-user projects.
I hear what you're saying, but for successful businesses in competitive spaces, those last 5% or even 1% are the sauce that sets your business apart from your competitors. Of course you won't know it is until you build it, but that's what quick mvp cycles and "lean startup" methodology is all about.
Exactly. So such a company should focus their effort on discovering that 1-5% edge and not waste effort going beyond 80% on things like hr/tooling/billing/etc that are irrelevant to (finding?) their value proposition.
Of course, for products deeper in the stack we should strive to implement that last 20% because the quality of the stack depends on it. I just don’t think it’s worth it for leaf/end-user projects.