Arrache-moi la tête

Among the couple of things I repeat a lot about simplicity, you’ll find: focus on the main use case you’re solving for, and embrace complexity instead of avoid it.

Someone told me that those two pieces of advice are contradictory. How can you focus on the main use case while trying to take into account the complexity brought by all the edge cases?

To me, it looks like a contradiction, until you invert them: first embrace the complexity, and choose the main use case after. The main use case can emerge naturally for a situation, but it can also be a conscious choice.

In a way, it’s just a way of saying: diverge, then converge. Explore, then select. List, then choose. The secret ingredient being radical about both phases.