Essential, Incidental, & Noise

Essential considerations are directly concerned with a goal - a feature, use case, or design.

Incidental considerations exist only as a consequence of an essential element. Noise is a distraction that should not (or need not) be considered in the current context.

The differences are easier to appreciate through examples than definitions.

Noise can be a question of timing. An element like scalability may not be critical now - it’s noise in the current context. But it may be important later. Recognizing it as current noise doesn’t mean ignoring it forever; it means deferring it.