Hanselminutes with Scott Hanselman The Boring Edition with Shopify's Glen Coates
Dec 11, 2024
Glen Coates, VP of Product Development at Shopify, highlights the power of embracing the "boring" side of software development, where simplicity and reliability take precedence. He discusses the balancing act between innovative design and the technical challenges of e-commerce evolution. Glen shares insights on the importance of refining existing features to enhance user experience while navigating the complexities of consumer demand. Ultimately, he champions the notion that effective software doesn’t need to be flashy; it just needs to work flawlessly.
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Early Engineering Anecdote
- Glen Coates started as a software engineer at a video game company working alongside a high school senior who was reverse engineering hardware to software.
- This experience energized him to quickly learn and catch up in a demanding technical environment.
Boring Checkout, Creative Storefront
- The creative story and experience at the start of an online store differentiate it, while checkout must remain consistent and secure.
- Shopify allows customization at the storefront's top but controls the checkout to ensure reliability and buyer reassurance.
Checkout Encodes Human Trade
- Shopify checkout encodes all human trade complexities of the world, handling varied deals, currencies, and taxes globally.
- This makes checkout software uniquely challenging due to diverse trading patterns it must capture.