Neologism for a neologistic age: "Minimum viable user"
In my recent comments on Google Chrome, I tossed out a phrase describing the lowest-skilled user a product might feasibly accommodate, or if you're business-minded, /profitably/ accommodate. The hazard being that such an MVU then /drags down/ the experience for others, and in particular expert or experienced users. More to follow.
First, this appears a new coinage:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22minimum+viable+user%22
#tootstorm
1/
The chef /also/ may have call for some specific processing equipment: cutting, chopping, blending, grating, and mixing tools. Powering these increases throughput, but the essential controls remain simple.
And other tools I'm omitting here, say, a frosting tube, but which generally share common characteristics: they're individually simple, do one thing, usually a basic transformation, and do it well.
The complexity of the process is in the chef, training, and practice.
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@dredmorbius "Unitasker Wednesday": https://unclutterer.com/category/unitasker-wednesday/
I remember reading this column while I was living in the US (2009-2011). Apparently it's still going strong.
"PancakeBot – the world’s first 3D pancake printer": https://unclutterer.com/2017/01/04/unitasker-wednesday-pancake-bot/
@oswriter @dredmorbius Oh wow, the "Electric Mac and Cheese Maker" was one of the most puzzling items I saw on the blog! Not only because "Mac and Cheese" isn't such a big thing here in Germany...
On the other hand, I'm guilty of owning this unitasker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11voSl3ty8Q
I've somehow stopped using it, but I had a lot of fun with it for months.
@oswriter @dredmorbius It won't take long anymore, I guess: http://liesandstartuppr.blogspot.de/2016/11/more-things-that-just-shouldnt-be.html (it's a great blog, by the way, even if some of the engineering-related posts are a little too technical for me)
I think the IoT Mac and Cheese maker should also be on the blockchain, if only to control the supply chain for pasta, cheddar, milk and butter.
@stefanieschulte And: https://xkcd.com/1205/
On single-use tools: if that single use is /saving your life in conditions of readily forseable peril/, then it may well be worth having. Lifeboats. Seatbelts. First aid kit.
That gets down to a risk assessment and mitigation calculation problem though, which may be error-prone: over- and under-estimating risks, and/or the efficacy of mitigations.
Pricing risk and risk as an economic good is another long topic.
@dredmorbius I remember the first xkcd, but didn't know the second one!
One the other hand, I usually try to automate tasks with software even if doing this takes me as long as performing the task manually. It's less boring, and it might provide me with a learning experience.
@stefanieschulte Extending Randall's concept in 1205: if you can share that effort with multiple people, then the time-on-task can be increased.
Of course, you've also got to take into account the Jevons paradox: reduce the costs of the activity and you'll increase the amount performed.
I also have a strong tendency to automate.
Doc Edward Morbius ❌
Stefanie Schulte
oswriter