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A totally broken function that a single person uses once a month to save five minutes isn't nearly as valuable as a well-designed feature that 5,000 users rely on daily to save just one minute each session.

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In my experience it depends on who the single person is in the pecking order.

Well, yes. The point is, just because a toaster has rusted through because you've left it on your apartment's balcony for 6 years (because you don't make toasts) — which is pretty severe — it doesn't make it your top priority to fix it. Until, of course, you mother-in-law arrives and throws a spectacular tantrum about the lack of fresh toasts, or something.

That's the thing though, there's always going to be the mother-in-law tantrum that pops up to totally wreck anyone's priorities. Best laid plans will always be tossed out the window because some favored user/client contacts someone high enough that everything you were doing is now put on hold to address something that was already evaluated as a lower priority task be all stake holders involved.

It makes priority lists a joke to me. I've been in meetings where every single new action item became the highest priority, where at the end of the meeting everyone is confused on what the priorities are. It's bad management, and it is utterly demoralizing.

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