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custom snowball

noun
/ˈkʌstəm ˈsnoʊˌbɔl/

Etymology

From custom + snowball, referencing the snowball effect, where a rolling snowball gathers mass and momentum. Coined to describe how a small deviation from a standard process gathers complexity.

  1. derived from snoweball
  2. compounded as custom snowball — “custom + snowball”

Definitions

  1. A cascading chain reaction in which a single non-standard feature, modification, or…

    A cascading chain reaction in which a single non-standard feature, modification, or workaround forces the creation of subsequent custom solutions to maintain compatibility, ultimately resulting in disproportionate complexity and technical debt.

    • We agreed to build a bespoke UI for that one client, but it turned into a massive custom snowball when we realized our standard backend couldn't process the new inputs.
    • Let's stick to the out-of-the-box template. I don't want to start a custom snowball right before the launch deadline.

  2. To rapidly increase in complexity due to cascading custom requirements.

    • What started as a quick script completely custom snowballed into a standalone application.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for custom snowball. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA