wiki :: sebastian.graphics

xy-problem

The plague that existed since the dawn of human communication: misunderstanding.

quote from https://xyproblem.info/:

The XY problem is asking about your attempted solution rather than your actual problem. This leads to enormous amounts of wasted time and energy, both on the part of people asking for help, and on the part of those providing help.

Variants

The basic version

quote from https://xyproblem.info/:

  • User wants to do X.
  • User doesn't know how to do X, but thinks they can fumble their way to a
  • solution if they can just manage to do Y.
  • User doesn't know how to do Y either.
  • User asks for help with Y.
  • Others try to help user with Y, but are confused because Y seems like a
  • strange problem to want to solve.
  • After much interaction and wasted time, it finally becomes clear that the user
  • really wants help with X, and that Y wasn't even a suitable solution for X.

The problem occurs when people get stuck on what they believe is the solution and are unable step back and explain the issue in full.

Language XY problem

category: coined-term

Mostly in cases where the user is new to the topic.

  • User wants to ask about X.
  • User doesn't know it is called X, but thinks it is called Y, which often refers to another thing.
  • User asks about Y.
  • Others try to explain Y, which confuses the user.
  • After much interaction and wasted time, it finally becomes clear that what the user mean by Y is actually X.