049-dont-fall-for-xy-problem-ask-right-questions - Arpit Bhayani Blogs

The XY Problem and How to Avoid It

Source: https://arpitbhayani.me/blogs/dont-fall-for-xy-problem-ask-right-questions Date: 2025-05-22

We often focus on the wrong problem when asking for help. Instead of describing what we actually want to achieve, we end up asking about a side issue, i.e., instead of asking about X, we end up asking about Y. Let me explain...

We often focus on the wrong problem when asking for help. Instead of describing what we actually want to achieve, we end up asking about a side issue, i.e., instead of asking about X, we end up asking about Y. Let me explain…

Say you’re implementing image upload in your service, and while doing so, you get stuck converting a base64 string into an image. So, you ask for help decoding base64.

But the real problem isn’t decoding base64 - it’s handling image uploads. If you had asked about photo uploads, someone might have shown you a much simpler approach.

The XY Problem and How to Avoid It

Source: https://arpitbhayani.me/blogs/dont-fall-for-xy-problem-ask-right-questions Date: 2025-05-22

We often focus on the wrong problem when asking for help. Instead of describing what we actually want to achieve, we end up asking about a side issue, i.e., instead of asking about X, we end up asking about Y. Let me explain...

Say you’re implementing image upload in your service, and while doing so, you get stuck converting a base64 string into an image. So, you ask for help decoding base64.

But the real problem isn’t decoding base64 - it’s handling image uploads. If you had asked about photo uploads, someone might have shown you a much simpler approach.