design by committee
Consensus-driven mediocrity
Design by committee describes a project shaped by too many decision-makers, resulting in something awkward, incoherent, or blandly compromised.
The phrase is almost always pejorative—committees tend to accommodate every voice rather than pursue a unified vision: The interface feels like design by committee, with buttons everywhere and no clear workflow.
The camel, it's said, is a horse designed by committee.
- groupthinkConformity-driven poor decisions
- consensusGeneral group agreement
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- too many cooksExcessive participants hindering success
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
mediocrity · lowest common denominator · watered down · camel · watered-down · bland · bloated · meetings · stakeholders · voting · opinions · diluted · satisfied · nobody · everybody · input · feedback · revisions
- antipatternsspaghetti code, dead code, code smell, technical debt, cargo cult
design by committeeauteur
Director with total control
one-man show · visionary leadership · solo effort · executive decision
design by committeedecisive action
Firm choice, promptly executed
streamlined process · agile development · executive decision · snap judgment
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