On Solutions
Published on July 7, 2010 (❠February 5, 2024), filed under Web Development and Everything Else (RSS feed for all categories).
This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.
Solutions require problems. If you donât have a problem, you donât need a solution.
This is exactly why you should, whenever someone proposes a solutionâwhich includes design and technical changesâask what problem that solution solves, and to be specific about it.
If you donât get an answer, you probably donât have a problem and donât need a solution.
If you get an answer, and letâs assume that answer reveals a real problem, you find yourself in need of a solution. That, however, does not necessarily mean the proposed solution is the solutionâit may just be a solution.
You benefit from keeping this in mind, and from being smart about it. Have an idea of both the cost of the problem and the cost of the solution, and an understanding of when a high cost of solution still means itâs worth implementing it.
If you canât tell when youâre dealing with a solution that lacks a problem, a solution that attempts to solve an ill-defined problem, or a solution that is far more expensive than the problem, then forget about the solution. It isnât one.
CSS Media Queries constitute such a case after A List Apart made everyone remember them. Among the highlights, a fellow redesigning his site using media queries, overlooking, over all the hype, that 95% of what he did was possible a long time ago using floats and maybe a pinch of min-width
. Ask yourself: What am I trying to solve, and is the solution I have in mind actually appropriate?
About Me
![Jens Oliver Meiert, on September 30, 2021.](https://d3rdtowr0c5lpf.cloudfront.net/media/meiert-20210930.jpg)
Iâm Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and Iâm a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. Iâve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, Iâm close to W3C and WHATWG, and I write and review books for OâReilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development (and engineering management), but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my views and experiences.
If youâd like to do me a favor, interpret charitably (I speak three languages, and they do collide), yet be critical and give feedback for me to fix issues, learn, and improve. Thank you!
Comments (Closed)
-
On July 7, 2010, 17:06 CEST, tobs said:
-
On July 12, 2010, 17:39 CEST, Randy said:
I believe every manager I ever worked for wanted to fix non-existent problems with expensive solutions so they could appear to be contributing. This is a policy more companies should enact. Before there can be a solution, there must be a problem.
-
On July 31, 2010, 11:39 CEST, Nicolas Chevallier said:
Itâs better to have a solution but no problem, or a problem but no solution ? đ
-
On August 5, 2010, 17:42 CEST, Rob Ahern said:
my manager also likes to fix âproblemsâ with expensive solutions. lol
maybe its a managery thing to doâŚ. -
On August 26, 2010, 22:42 CEST, tim said:
must be referring to code, because i canât think of ever having had a design solution before having a problemâŚ
-
On September 27, 2010, 3:41 CEST, Tim Wong said:
Was reading through my past blogs and found a correlation.
Read More
Maybe of interest to you, too:
- Next: CSS: How to Host Right-to-Left Styling
- Previous: CSS Validation and Vendor Extensions: Throw Warnings, Not Errors
- More under Web Development or Everything Else
- More from 2010
- Most popular posts
Looking for a way to comment? Comments have been disabled, unfortunately.
![Cover: The Web Development Glossary 3K.](https://d3rdtowr0c5lpf.cloudfront.net/de/publications/books/the-web-development-glossary-3k/cover-s.png)
Get a good look at web development? Try WebGlossary.infoâand The Web Development Glossary 3K (2023). With explanations and definitions for thousands of terms of web development, web design, and related fields, building on Wikipedia as well as MDN Web Docs. Available at Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Leanpub.