TALK OVERVIEW

How user research can improve the developer experience

The developer experience is rarely “one-size fits all”. Though many Dev Tools are created through a “roll-your-own” process, end users will often differ wildly in their background, approach, and mental models than the core engineering team that conceived the product. How do we bridge the gap, and provide a better developer experience for all developers?

This talk will present some of the user studies I’ve worked on focused on developer experience. I’ll share general findings and trends, and cover some of the how-to’s of User Research. The Developer Experience is often a learning experience, and I argue that improving the user experience of tools for generalist developers can lead to improvements in usability and accessibility for developers at all levels of expertise.

To conclude, I’ll share design principles and tactical examples for improving the developer experience, and discuss ways in which we can effectively advocate for (and implement!) usability and user experience improvements.

Twitter