Ask HN: What is the most useless project you have worked on?
Engineers and developers trade stories of projects that burned months or years of effort only to be canceled, duplicated, replaced, or never used—from internal tools for deprecated systems to over-engineered enterprise migrations and doomed startup products. Many describe the demoralizing mix of poor management, politics, and perverse incentives that produce such waste, but also note the skills, experience, and perspective they gained along the way. A recurring theme is learning to separate personal growth and ethical boundaries from the often arbitrary business value of the work.
What counts as “useless” work?
- Many distinguish between “useless for the company” and “useful for the person”: skills gained, intuition for systems, and résumé bullets.
- Others argue most software is transient; 80–90% of code is thrown away, so “uselessness” is normal rather than exceptional.
- Some say a project is only truly useless if absolutely nobody uses it and nothing is learned.
Common patterns of useless projects
- Large efforts canceled or shelved: multi‑year hardware and telco cards, health‑industry products waiting on contracts that never come, game projects lasting a decade, ERP/CRM migrations that burn millions then die.
- Building substantial systems with no customers or after the customer already moved on; still required to “finish” for contractual or political reasons.
- Hype‑driven pivots (AI/ML, blockchain, cloud, ML‑everywhere mandates) that worsen performance or economics but tick executive checkboxes.
- Massive refactors and rewrites that have zero or invisible user impact, or are abandoned mid‑stream.
Internal tools, deprecation, and legacy systems
- Many stories of maintaining “deprecated” tools for years because key teams or executives won’t move; supporting 0–5 users or even a single report.
- Some companies keep duplicate stacks (old + new) indefinitely; others fund “service assassination teams” to force real decommissioning.
- Budget silos often force engineers to work on X (funded but low value) while more valuable Y can’t be touched.
Attitudes toward meaning and morality of work
- One camp: your obligation is to do assigned work ethically; if the company wants useless things, be glad to be paid for them.
- Another camp: pointless work is demoralizing; people want impact, or at least honest utility, not “dig a hole and fill it.”
- Separate concern: refusing to work on projects seen as harmful or “evil” (e.g., certain defense, gambling, or manipulative products).
Personal / hobby “useless” projects
- Many share one‑user tools, games, toys, language experiments, or reverse‑engineering efforts labeled “useless” but heavily enjoyed and educational.
- Consensus: these are often the most valuable for learning and happiness, even if they never find a wider audience.
Advice and coping strategies
- Clarify business value with your manager; sometimes you’re covering contractual, risk, or political needs that aren’t obvious.
- If stuck:
- Use low‑stakes work to learn new tech, build portfolio pieces, or refactor safely.
- Detach somewhat emotionally; don’t tie self‑worth to corporate strategy.
- Watch for patterns (busywork, deprecation backwaters) as potential layoff signals and prepare an exit.