A lot of our judgment goes into what not to build. Every feature we leave out is one less thing to maintain, misunderstand, or pay for later. Restraint is a design decision, not a shortcut.
We leave out features that don't serve the core problem, however reasonable they sound in a meeting. We leave out configuration that exists only to defer decisions we should make now. And we leave out ongoing dependency on us — no retainers, no managed services, no quiet lock-in.
What stays is the smallest thing that solves the problem well. That tool is easier to trust, because you can see all of it, and easier to own, because there is less of it to own.
Leaving things out is harder than adding them. It requires knowing the problem well enough to be sure of what it doesn't need. That confidence is the work.
—How Skynarc thinks about what to leave out.