Technology as a Tool

One of the most common mistakes made by engineers—especially at large companies—is failing to architect solutions with the company’s core product in mind. This misalignment often leads to wasted engineering and management time. Every company has a core business, and all engineering work should serve that business. Siloed engineering teams, in particular, tend to focus more on crafting elegant technical solutions than on the actual impact those solutions have on the core product.

I’ve seen this happen many times—and I’ve fallen into the same trap myself as I’ve gained experience in the industry. My view is that even the most beautiful engineering solution results in a suboptimal product if it prioritizes technical elegance over user value.

Most engineering education and design philosophy emphasizes building the best solution to a problem. We often feel compelled to use every tool and skill in our arsenal to solve it. But this mindset can actually hurt both the product and the engineer. While I can absolutely appreciate beautifully crafted technical systems, I’ve come to see technology more simply: as a tool to meet a user need.

The best technology feels like magic. It disappears into the background and just works. Users don’t care how optimized the code is—unless that optimization directly improves their experience in a meaningful way. There’s a danger in treating technology as an art form for its own sake because that misses the point of what it’s for. Technology is built to create user experiences that are meaningful, useful, and sometimes even awe-inspiring.

There’s no end to the loop of optimization, over-engineering, and incremental tweaks that ultimately lead nowhere. But when technology is used well, it’s fun. It’s about building things. It’s about bringing something to life that didn’t exist before. That, to me, is the real magic—and what keeps me excited about working in tech.