XY problem

This article is not detailed enough and needs to be expanded. Please help us by adding some more information.

The XY problem is a very common communication problem that sometimes appears in everyday life, but more commonly in software engineering. The problem happens when a person wants to achieve some goal X, but instead of directly asking how to do X, they jump to the conclusion that the only way to achieve X is using Y, so they ask how to achieve Y instead, sometimes without even mentioning X.

See also

• XY problem on Wikipedia