Lovecraftian design

October 17th, 2012  |  Published in Uncategorized  |  2 Comments

The H. P. Lovecraft Institute of Software Design

How many times have you heard a product architecture referred to as “sheer insanity?”

How many times have you rolled out a product and wiped out an entire knowledge structure?

Have you heard software developers use words that are clearly unpronounceable by human tongues?

If, during a post-mortem, you’ve heard someone shout, “Ygnailh… ygnaiih… thflthkh’ngha…. Yog-Sothoth …HELP! HELP! …ff – ff – ff – FATHER! FATHER! YOG-SOTHOTH!..”

… perhaps it’s time to admit that what you’re trying to create isn’t so much “software” as “a portal to another dimension, filled with beings eager to devour your essence.” And maybe you’ve already opened that door a little bit wider than you’d like to.

Management thinks what we do at the H.P. Lovecraft Institute of Software Development is build customer relationship management software, but once you’re on the inside you’ll know you should never boot up our software unless you’ve got a monkey’s paw dangling from your neck and a line of salt between you and the hard drive.

Sound familiar?

Responses

  1. Adam Connor says:

    October 22nd, 2012 at 7:44 am (#)

    Have definitely seen a few systems where the monkey’s paw would be helpful.

  2. webcowgirl says:

    October 25th, 2012 at 2:22 am (#)

    Glad you’re enjoying it. Wish I could figure out what to do to improve it …

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