Season 1Episode 0018 min

The Problem Before the Problem

A lot of technology projects start one step too late. Someone asks for a tool, plugin, automation, or AI helper before anyone has named the repeated pain underneath it.

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About this episode

A lot of technology projects start one step too late. Someone asks for a tool, plugin, automation, or AI helper before anyone has named the repeated pain underneath it.

Chapters

  1. Why Less Miserable Tech exists
  2. The visible problem is not always the real problem
  3. Name the friction first

principle

Name the friction before you pick the tool.

Show notes

Less Miserable Tech starts with a rule learned the hard way: before you fix the technology, you have to figure out what is actually making the work miserable.

This first episode sets the pattern for the field journal: start with the messy human workflow, find the repeated friction, and only then decide whether technology belongs in the fix.

Transcript

I’m starting Less Miserable Tech because the problem people ask technology to fix is not always the real problem.

Sometimes the common path is too hard. Sometimes the defaults are wrong. Sometimes the system expects people to remember details while the work is already taking all their attention.

The first useful step is not picking software, automation, or AI. It’s naming the repeated friction clearly enough that a smaller fix becomes visible.

Technology should make work less miserable. It should not become a whole extra job.

Related field noteSometimes the First Problem Is Figuring Out What the Problem Is