"Design isn't free. ... When you put more design in today, you increase the overhead of the system. There is more to test, more to understand, more to explain. So everyday ... you pay a little design tax."
- Kent Beck's Extreme Programming Explained.
With more experience this is becoming truer and truer. As the design gets more general and seems to be preparing for potential future needs then there is more to test, understand, and explain. And yes it is that simple. That is not even counting the cost of the thought and white board time ( meaning less coding time ) going into the extra design.
Is it often worth the cost?
I am beginning to think not necessarily. Maybe the YAGNI question needs to be applied more thoughtfully to design and design decisions.
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