Byte Bites

Bite size terms from byte world

• Algotorial: Editors + Algorithms

  • Lots of songs

  • Editors compose a playlist based on a theme/mood/artist etc

  • Algorithm tries to recreate that playlist with more specificity

    • Personal preference for a user

    • Availability of music in that geo

    • More than just the songs in the original playlist

• Fox-light vs Hedgehog-light for problem solving

  • Fox light: Looking at the world from all sorts of different perspectives and applying lots of different mental models to get to your answer.

  • Hedgehog-light: You approach the world through your one big idea/thesis. Generally, this doesn't work very well.

• OODA loop for decision making

  • Observe -> Orient -> Decide -> Act

  • At times agility can overcome raw power

  • Machines have much faster OODA loops than humans

• 1way vs 2way door decisions

  • 1way: There's no way to back out of that decision. Go as slow as you can.

  • 2way: There's always a way to back out of that decision. Go as fast as you can.

• Quality software metrics:

  • Non-Measurable: No standard is present to measure these objectives

    • Readability: More eyes on the code, makes it better progressively

    • Reusability: How easy is it to take a piece of code and convert it into a library

  • Measure during dev

    • Time Complexity: Big-O notations

    • Resource Usage: CPU, Memory, Disk Space and other usage

  • Measure during run

    • Reliability: System uptime, test-suite coverage, chaos engineering

    • Thread safety: Important in distributed systems, information assimilation

• OCEAN Personality Assessment

  • Open to experiences

  • Conscientiousness

  • Extroversion

  • Agreeable

  • Neurotic

• Time Management methods

  • The Eisenhower Method

    • Important and Urgent

    • Important and Not Urgent

    • Not Important and Urgent

    • Not Important and Not Urgent

  • POSEC method

    • Prioritize your time and define your life by goals

    • Organize things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful (family, friends and finances)

    • Streamline things you may not like to do, but must do (work and chores)

    • Economize things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent (pastimes and socializing)

    • Contribute by paying attention to a few remaining things that make a difference (social obligations)

• Speech settings for speaker

  • Volume

  • Pitch

  • Pace

  • Clarity

  • Inflection

  • Physical Expression

  • Facial Expression

• ADEPT Method for communicating ideas and concepts

  • Analogy

  • Diagram

  • Example

  • Plain English

  • Technical Definition

• Understanding users

  • Generative user research: Discover the problems

  • Evaluative user testing: Evaluate possible solution (low fidelity)

  • Usability testing

    • Expectation (about what will happen)

    • Reaction (to what happens)

    • Reflection (on the difference between 1 and 2)

  • Continuous data-driven discovery

    • user generated events

    • talking to users for delights, frustrations, what's there, what works, what's missing

    • shared with everyone in team

    • shared annotated video notes

• Batching Tasks in Functions

  • Easy batching: Mental vs Physical tasks

  • Complex batching: Write Code, Review PR, Respond to Email

  • Why batching

    • Makes the context switching cost minimal and enables multitasking

    • Example: Listening to podcast while walking

• Poka-Yoke

  • It’s a Japanese term that roughly translates to “mistake-proofing” or “avoiding an unthinkably bad move.”

  • Poka-Yoke is a streamlined process to prevent incorrect usage by a user.

• Chestertons Fence

  • There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”

  • Unless we know why someone made a decision, we can’t safely change it or conclude that they were wrong.

  • The first step before modifying an aspect of a system is to understand it. Observe it in full. Note how it interconnects with other aspects, including ones that might not be linked to you personally. Learn how it works, and then propose your change.