“I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam-i-am. Would you eat them in a box. Would you eat them with a fox?”
These 28 words, along with only 22 others, form one of the most successful children’s books of all time – Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. What many people don’t know is that it was written under a unique constraint. Seuss’s publisher bet him he couldn’t write a story using only 50 distinct words. He took up the challenge and crafted a timeless classic that has sold over 8 million copies worldwide.
This great example illustrates how innovation can flourish through enforced constraints, even arbitrary ones, rather than limitless freedom.
Embracing constraints to build better products
In the technology world, it’s tempting to assume that some of the most innovative solutions emerge from a ‘blue-sky’ mindset where anything is possible. Take the first-generation iPhone, for example, a product that fundamentally changed the way we live. Its success didn’t come from being the first touch-based smartphone, but from how Apple embraced the limitations of the form factor and designed for them, not in spite of them.
The iPhone needed to be perfectly usable by touch alone, with no stylus or keyboard. Its battery had to be compact enough to fit the slim design but powerful enough to support the vibrant display. Additionally, all of its functionality had to come exclusively from Apple-developed apps, without relying on third-party developers at launch.
This idea of working within constraints applies just as much to software projects as it does to physical products. Software projects have no natural constraints. The amount of time, money and resources you can pour into them is practically limitless. You can always add more features, hire more developers and run more sprints. Without constraints, this abundance can lead to scope creep, endless rework, and unclear priorities. Problems that can cause even the best funded projects to go awry.
This is why most software teams turn to the Agile methodology, working in short ‘sprints’ to deliver working software quickly, gather feedback, and iterate. Unlike traditional ‘waterfall’ development, Agile introduces deliberate time constraints, forcing teams to move quickly, prioritise what matters most and adapt to feedback and input from users early. It’s sold as a way to deliver software faster, which it absolutely does. But the real promise of Agile isn’t speed, It’s clarity through constraints.
- Sprints constrain time
- Backlogs constrain scope
- Daily stand-ups constrain misdirection
- Real feedback constrains rework
- Cross-functional teams constrain resources to just the people in the room
These boundaries are what make Agile effective. When teams abandon these guardrails however, accommodating every request, expanding scope and stretching beyond their core team, the clarity disappears, and ironically so does the speed.
Some development teams don’t just accept constraints, they actually enforce them as part of their core philosophy. Basecamp (formerly 37 signals) is a standout example. They’ve written extensively about how small teams, fixed project durations, and tightly scoped features result in better products. Their 6-week development cycles, often delivered by just two programmers and one designer might seem limiting, but the results speak for themselves. In 2024, they reported revenue figures of $374 million. For a company with around 60 people that’s a masterclass in achieving a lot with relatively little.
Like the team at Basecamp, we at GCD also view constraints as a powerful tool for building better software. Only recently, we had a last-minute request to run a discovery sprint for a client with a fixed and immovable deadline. In just a matter of days, we ran workshops, built a specification, and designed and validated two different interactive prototypes. The constraint brought immediate clarity, we had no time to over-plan, only to execute and in the end what we delivered was one of our strongest sprints yet. The enforced limitations didn’t hinder us, they sharpened our decision making and led to more creative ways of solving the problem.
Turning Constraints into Creative Fuel
When building digital products, some constraints, like budget or timeline, will be forced upon you. But it’s also likely that you’ll have a lot of freedom to make choices throughout the project. A good, well-structured discovery process is essential to get the most from that freedom, but if you don’t have that luxury, here are a few questions we’ve found effective in constraining your choices;
- What’s the one thing our product must do well?
- If we could only solve one pain point for our customers what would it be?
- What could we remove from this UI without compromising the core experience?
- If we could only serve one user persona who would it be?
- If we had to launch the product in one month what would it look like?
Using questions like this can be a powerful way to sharpen decision making. In my experience they’re much more effective than ‘blue-sky, constraint free thinking’ and often lead to more innovative and feasible solutions in much less time.
Dr. Suess had 50 words. You might have four weeks, a one person team, or an extremely tight budget, but if you view constraints not as limits, but as creative problem solving tools, you’ll achieve much more than you might have initially thought. Forget the myth of ‘thinking outside the box’, true creativity happens inside it!
Originally posted in SyncNI, on 09/06/2025 Read original article here
