Did you know? Your favorite cappuccino beverage and custom software development share a number of parallels! They are both focused on craftsmanship.
What is at the root of an incredible cappuccino? Research and experience. Cappuccino crafting and software development both require a great deal of research; before brewing the perfect cup, you have to start asking questions based on your foreseen result - what should it taste like? From there, once you establish the desired flavor profile (comparable to a software user experience). From that established desire, you can subsequently determine where your ingredients should come from; what region, what farm, even what roaster.
In the same way, when developing a product, you ask questions related to the end experience: "how do I want my product to help people?" and work backward. You hone in on what you want your product to accomplish, and devise precisely how you want to get there.
Specific to the cappuccino, we get into the concept of "a similar base leads to a different experience." A cappuccino is an espresso base with a layer of steamed milk, followed by a layer of foamed milk on top of it (or, espresso followed by foamed milk, depending on your barista). Similarly, a latté has the same ingredients, yet is prepared differently (1 parts espresso with 5 parts steamed milk) and results in a much different experience. Both of those, while similar in composition, provide radically different experiences for different preferences. Personally, I find cappuccinos are best enjoyed in winter, and lattés in spring.
While many pieces of software are quite similar developmentally, they are uniquely customized to the exact flavor of the intended audience. This results in slightly different user experiences. Even if the core of software is often very common and similar across different products, they come with different twists that cause great variances.
Most importantly, the development of both software and a perfect cappuccino are very close to each other. To brew the perfect cup, you need to follow a precise ritual. You have to have fresh ingredients, appropriately measure, set your water (and milk) to a particular temperature and perfect your espresso to maximize the final product. Even then, you need a dash of luck for something special.
Developing a great software? You have to assemble your ingredients; your team, and your technology. You have to perform research and due diligence, much as you measure beans and water temperature. You have to follow your schedule, even if you have a hiccup, and you have to have that dash of luck that people love it.
We’re Troy Web Consulting. We know custom software development and we love cappuccinos. Happy National Cappuccino Day!