Why I stopped using the word “Algorithm”

Ever since I wrote the first piece of code in my high school, I was fascinated by the word “Algorithm”; there was always a sense of mystery about the word in my eyes. Tell someone that you are writing an “Algorithm”, and suddenly you will see there expression change from Meh… to Aah..!

While the fascination with the word still exists, it is this very feeling that has started scaring me from using it while designing a solution.

When me and Atul started working on a new problem, the first thing we decided was to avoid using the word “Algorithm” in our conversations for few months.

But Why??

I noticed that the moment we bring an algorithm in our product design, our focus would shift from making things ‘simple’ to making them ‘complex’. Our discussions revolve around ‘how to create!’ rather than ‘what to create!’. It feels good to be working on an “Algorithm”, but it hardly results into something productive in such early stage of designing a product.

To all my fellow programmers/entrepreneurs, I would urge you to shift your focus on “What” and not “How” at this moment.

Start with a LOGIC, a more humble version of the word ALGORITHM and quite as effective as a first step to solving a problem.

When X does THIS, it results into THAT — sounds simple and clean!

No matter how complex a problem is, it can be boiled down to this framework; it at least tells you what you are trying to achieve eventually.

Trust me, as a first step towards building something, this clarity is a must!

So what are the next steps before you can start calling your logic an “Algorithm”?

1- List down the data that you need to make your algorithm work, such as user profile data (Age, Sex etc.).

2- Write a simple logic to show the required results based on this data, for example, A user with Age < 12, will be shown ‘kids books’ in the ‘Suggested Reading” section of our online library platform. Sounds Simple! Huh!

3- Test your logic with some sample data before you start pushing this into your product design.

Probably now you can bring that word back and move on to improve this design!

If you ever feel that your team has recently started using the word “Algorithm” more often that required, do follow this method. It has started working for us and I hope it does for you too!

Share your opinions below!

It is my first Medium post :P Be gentle!