Simplicity vs. Flexibility - Forecasts at stake
One year ago, when we initially designed Lokad, we have been considering many potential features
- more powerful data model than time-series.
- more features in the web application (we decided to have less).
- more indicators beside forecasts (confidence interval, estimated errors, …)
Each time so far, we decided to do less as opposed to do more, the reason was that we did choose simplicity over flexibility (and Lokad isn’t the only company doing this). The main issue with traditional statistical software is that you end up with a list of models so long that only a statistician can comprehend and use.
Simplicity often means faster and cheaper. What can be the benefits of forecasting if the process is too complicated and too time consuming to be used anyway? Lokad focuses on removing all technical obstacles that would prevent even small companies to start using forecasting.
Reader Comments (1)
Joannes - Great to see a similar philosophy employed against a completely different problem set. Best of luck to you and Lokad. 10 years ago | JP
