Overview
How would you spend a tech debt mortgage? “Technical debt” is a dirty word in the software engineering field, but financial debt isn’t universally reviled in the same way: the difference is intention. What if tech debt isn’t always an accident, caused by incorrect assumptions and unexpected circumstances?
This talk presents an investment-based approach to thinking about software development. Time is our currency; we can spend it now, and we can also take on technical debt that commits us to spend time later. By taking risk into account and prioritizing creating value sooner, you can reduce wasted effort and improve your project’s odds for success.
We’ll discuss how this framework was used to rapidly build and ship Squarespace’s Email Campaigns platform in less than 15 months. Along the way, you’ll get several practical guidelines for how tech debt can supercharge your technical investments, with real examples from inside Squarespace.
Objective
Use technical debt intentionally to manage risk on software projects
Five Things Audience Members Will Learn
- Difference between bad and good tech debt
- Accounting framework to measure technical debt
- Identifying project risk
- Re-ording timelines to manage risk
- Examples of good tech debt
Target Audience
Anyone planning a multi-month software project
