"Working on products people hate forces you to accept how little control individual engineers have over whether people like what they build. A very strong engineer can slightly improve the quality of software in their local area, but they must still write code that interacts with the rest of the company's systems."
"Some beloved features have very shaky engineering indeed, and many features that failed miserably were built like cathedrals on the inside. If I'd happened to work on popular applications for my whole career, I'd probably believe that that was because of my sheer talent."
Working on unpopular products highlights the limited influence individual engineers have on product success. Despite technical skills, the reception of software is shaped by team dynamics and company incentives. Beloved products can have poor engineering, while disliked products may be well-constructed. The experience of working on products that are not well-received fosters a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in software development and the unpredictability of user preferences.
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