The Minimum Viable Tree House

And the next step after the Minimum Viable Treehouse is Treehouse 2.0. With skylights and a railing, but attached to the original structure made from two pallets. With duct tape.<p>Of course, in the real world the ugliness would be so overwhelming that such a beast would never be built. Too bad the same does not hold true for software :)

My treehouse was a 4x4 sheet of plywood with 2 2' 2x4's cut for bracing stuck/nailed in the crotch of a tree.<p>no roof, no walls, no rails. random rope to help climb the tree to get on the platform... I guess it wasn't so much a house as a place to play up high.<p>I knew some guys with 2 tree houses in different trees, way way to high, connected via ropes. The guys were almost done with highschool, and didn't use them. If we'd been about the same size/age, would have been a blast. As it was, i got to climb up and across a dozen times or so.

Am I the only one who is in awe of that tree house? It is totally epic! I would love to have a tree house like that one.<p>I agree they are indeed too young at the moment to appreciate the tree house, but when they are older they will most certainly appreciate the fact that it is HUGE and their parents build it; furthermore, it will be a totally cool place to hang out in.

Good metaphor for out-of-control software development. I especially like the conclusion that the end-user actually does not like the fancy features (the large size).

The minimum viable tree house is a tree with a plank nailed somewhere you can climb to.<p>As a kid the most valuable addition to my tree house after the initial plank was a pulley so that I could get more boards up there myself.<p>Developing a piece at a time is much more fun.

Minimum viable x is a great lesson in engineering. Always start small and slowly build from there while keeping it working.

the kids might be more invested in it had they been more a part of the design and construction. granted, 3 and 5 are a bit young. ideally, you put together a totally scrappy, safe tree house when they're 3 and then when they're 10 and 12 you build the current version together.

Has he never seen a certain cartoon involving a tree and a swing?