Jeremy Henrickson
Design for the Complex Case
Inspired by Jeremy Henrickson episode
Jeremy Henrickson on designing for the complex use case first. Plan for the hard days, not just the easy ones.
You spend Sunday night planning the perfect day. Breakfast at 8, park by 10, lunch at noon, nap at 1. You've designed for the simple case, and the simple case is a lie.
Monday arrives. There's a tantrum before you even open the cereal. It rains, so the park is out. Lunch is a 45-minute negotiation that ends with crackers thrown on the floor. The nap? There is no nap. There is only screaming.
When you design for edge cases—the disaster day—simple days feel like a gift. When you design for simple days, every day is an edge case, and you're just drowning in exceptions.
The disaster is the default. Plan for that.
