Pareto Principle Projects

Discussions focus on the Pareto principle (80/20 rule) applied to project timelines, especially in software development, where the first 80-90% of work takes a proportional amount of time but the final 10-20% consumes the remaining majority of effort. Variations like the ninety-ninety rule are commonly referenced.

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Keywords

OP E2 goo.gl en.m wikipedia.org 80 90 takes 20 90 time percent rule 10 principle like 80

Sample Comments

HPsquared Aug 2, 2023 View on HN

It's a bit like the Pareto principle. 20% of the work takes 80% of the time.

jefurii Feb 21, 2025 View on HN

The first 80% of a project takes 80% of the time. The last 20% of the project takes the other 80% of the time.

known Aug 30, 2016 View on HN

Sounds like https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

known May 5, 2016 View on HN

Sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

ptmcc Oct 8, 2019 View on HN

You know what they say: the first 80% takes 80% of the time, and the last 20% takes the other 80% of the time.

celticninja Apr 5, 2018 View on HN

The first 90% takes 90% of the project time the last 10% takes the other 90% of the time.

zikduruqe Apr 6, 2022 View on HN

Sounds like the 80/20 rule with extra steps.

lambda_obrien Mar 9, 2021 View on HN

The 80-20 rule: the last 20 percent of the work takes 80 percent of the time.

crooked-v Jul 24, 2019 View on HN

It's like they say: the first 90% of the work takes 90% of the time, and the last 10% of the work takes the other 90% of the time.

ianai Apr 15, 2019 View on HN

That sounds like an 80/20 rule application.