What business does kindness have in coding?

A fair question worth answering.

Most people hear “kindness” and picture someone soft, like the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. “Kindness” is typically imagined to be something nice to have, something that lives in the margins of real work. This blog exists to challenge that.

Kindness isn’t a personality trait you’re born with, though there can be certain circumstances that make it more innate. It’s more than a mood you perform on good days; it’s a practice. And it showcases the value you see in others. That is why it belongs at the center of how we build technology.

Because every line of code eventually meets a real person. Your validation error messaging can either direct someone to a solution or make them feel foolish. Your popup could instigate a connection or feel emotionally manipulative. Your unstructured scope meeting that leaves engineers and stakeholders alike confused and frustrated. These are problems that I’ve faced, that you’ve likely faced at some point too, and they have one endearing solution: kindness.

The kindness to be openly compassionate with your co-workers and understand where their concerns are coming from. The holistic view of how a user may need to contact your support team, and what information you can provide in the messaging that would help facilitate a calmer and quicker conversation. The advocacy against dark design patterns that leave you feeling icky. Kindness is at the center of each and what we’ll be exploring together.

This is a blog about being intentional, holistic, and about remembering that the person on the other side of the screen is a whole individual. What we do with our craft either honors that or it doesn’t.

Let’s make sure this practice does the hard work to make space for dignity, intentionality, honesty, and belonging in tech, together.