Introduction
- We’ve all heard 80/20 being thrown around
- Lets figure out where it came from
- What it means for us Web Developers/Software Devs
- How we can benefit from it
- How AI changes the rule
What the 80/20 Rule Really Means
- Coined by Vilfredo Pareto a Italian Engineer in the late 1800s to early 1900s
- Found ~20% of Italian land owners held 80% of land
- Formalized as a power-law distribution (Pareto distribution) showing extreme concentration of value among a small share of actors
- Varients
- 20 % of work yields 80 % of user-visible value.
- 20 % of defects trigger 80 % of incidents.
- 20 % of app surface drives 80 % of traffic.
- The first 80% of an app takes the same amount of time as the last 20%
What 80/20 means for developers
- Prioritization
- Find the 20% that matters most
- Technical-Debt
- 80% of code might never be worth refactoring
- Time Usage/Productivity
- Find the 20% that has the most impact on your day and double down on it
- Burnout
- Split your work time into 80/20 where 80% is on critical core work functions and 20% is on research or side aspects of work that let you focus on something else probably more interesting
How to Identify the 20% That Matters
- Metrics
- Analyze analytics
- Review logs
- Tracking
- Put more information into your task management apps
- Feedback
- Pay attention to what your users are saying about the product
- Team Insights
- Check with the engineers around you to see what areas of the code they are focused on consistently
- AI
- Have AI analyze your product/codebase to determine potential areas of focus and high priority that need the most attention
Benefits for Developers
- Sharper focus
- If you can identify the 20% that matters you can impact the most important parts
- Easier stakeholder communications
- Knowing the most important parts of the app or your work makes it easier for you to let stakeholders know you’re working on the most critical tasks
- Stress reduction
- Knowing the most important parts of your work make it easy to not worry about the other 80% as much and avoid bikeshedding
How AI Throws a Wrench into 80/20
- Building the first 80% becomes a lot faster but the last 20% becomes a lot slower
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