When you are entering the blockchain world now, you enter a fast and loud moving industry. It seems that every week there is a new idea to implement and there is always a push to work faster, scale higher, and be relevant now. It is simple to lose sight in this setting of the fact that actual systems are not rated by their appearance when introduced, but by their actions several years after. This is an important lesson that Plasma can teach. It was not structured in such a way that it gained attention in the short run. It was made to withstand pressure, error and expansion - the facts every serious builder sooner or later has to contend with.
Plasma teaches that you should not only build around solving those problems that are present today, but also about the challenges that will be presented tomorrow. The initial blockchain developers were forced to learn this the hard way. Connection networks were overloaded, costs soared and users were caught in the rut. Plasma was the result of those experiences based on failure as opposed to theory. This history is of importance to new builders. It demonstrates that it takes good design to tolerate uncertainty. It anticipates exits, recovery and user security in advance prior to something going wrong.
You will be under pressure as a builder in order to cut corners. Short cuts are lured by deadlines, competition and funding demands. The reason that there is plasma is that the builders that came before them succumbed to that temptation. They opted complicated in cases where they safeguarded users and plain in situations where they lowered friction. They realized that once broken, trust is very delicate and not easily restored. This attitude can be taken along. When systems are sensitive to users in a challenging situation they gain loyalty that cannot be purchased with any marketing campaign.
It is also demonstrated by plasma that responsibility increases with size. It is easy to forgive mistakes when your system is used by a small number of individuals. Those errors will have a consequence as they are adopted. Plasma balances between decentralization and accountability by providing the user with power without forsaking safety. The existence of exit mechanisms does not portray weakness; it portrays maturity. They accept the fact that no system is flawless and that users have the right to protection even in the case the assumptions fail.
One more lesson that Plasma can teach that is not very commonly talked about is that stability contributes to creativity. A predictable behavior of infrastructure allows teams to be able to work on enhancing user experience, education and design. They are able to think over their issues rather than responding to crises all the time. Technical stress is eliminated by plasma and this lowers the stress experienced by humans. This eventually creates superior products and healthy teams. It is not burnout that generates innovation it is stability.
You will have good and bad markets on the way of being a builder. Attention will come and go. Plasma is indifferent and so are your values. It is not easy to build to achieve long-term utility rather than short-term appreciation, which is a cyclical industry. Plasma teaches us that we should not see what underlies the best things as they are the strongest. The users may not even be aware of their existence, yet they use them on a daily basis.
The burden of the constructors will only grow with the use of blockchain in the daily life. Individuals will make use of systems that you develop to work, save, identify, and belong to a community. Plasma offers an example on how that responsibility can be handled carefully. It demonstrates that good design keeps the people safe in a subtle, unfailing and unfocused manner. Such a protection generates long lasting trust.
Plasma is not limited to a technical framework to the next-generation builders. It offers a way of thinking. Build patiently. Plan for failure. Respect users. Appreciate stability over innovation. The systems you create may become unnoticed just as Plasma tends to be one day. That will not mean you failed. It will come to tell you that you have managed to build something that people can count upon without any terror whatsoever and that is the ultimate goal that any builder can accomplish.
