Crappy Graphs!

Steelopus has submitted a graph in response to the last one I featured that casts a different light on productivity patterns. This is one that I can definitely relate to, even more than the original. But is this really a pattern for procrastinators, or just people who are really busy? I think the original might maintain a certain amount of truthiness for people who work hard at the beginning of a project, then pay more and more attention to Digg.com (or CrappyGraphs.com?) until the deadline is right around the corner.

In this world, I think both of these graphs have their place. They simply apply to different groups of people.

This graph, drawn by “trig1″ in the Crappy Graphs user submission section, expressed what many programmers and students know to be true. The productivity spike at the beginning of a project depends on how exciting or interesting the project is. After a week or a month, that excitement fades and the true procrastinator in all of us comes out to play. The work has to be done, so we end up overextending ourselves right before the deadline.

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. It is a rule to live by. There is beauty in simplicity.

I just noticed this graph drawn by kejento entitled “1 + 1 = 2.” My first reaction was on its simplicity, hence K.I.S.S., but I soon realized the serendipitous double meaning “kiss” can have on the graph.

Now, I’m not saying this is a model that anyone else should adopt. This is merely an observation of my experience here at Crappy Graphs. I found myself reflecting on the user submission section after recently passing the milestone of 1,000 user-submitted graphs.

As any blogger knows, it takes a considerable amount of work to get a blog off the ground — setting up the site and generating its initial content. Many bloggers may relate to the decline in effort put into a site after a couple of months. It becomes less exciting. It’s no longer something you think about all the time. You end up not going to the site for weeks at a time.

With Crappy Graphs, I decided to create the user submission section. This required much more effort than posting a few graphs here and there. However, once it was completed, I was able to resume the decline of effort and let the amount of content on the site sky rocket on its own.

Since the site launched in June, I have drawn about 20 graphs. A Google search on CrappyGraphs.com shows that the search engine has indexed about 300 pages of content. Quality aside, it would take me years at this pace to come up with that many graphs.

The concept is in no way groundbreaking, but it still manages to surprise and fascinate me.