Codestock Keynote - Nick Bradbury

A Message For Me

I recently attended the Codestock conference, a conference for software developers.  At the end of the first day of the conference, there was a keynote address by Nick Bradbury.  This keynote seemed to have been written special for me, and I thank Nick for delivering it.  I do a lot of software development outside of my employment.  While this is not for financial gain, it is still real software development, with real customers.  

Make something you need

Nick's message was about the life of the independent developer.  While I do have a more standard employment relationship, in some limited aspect I am an independent developer.  I struggle at times to stay focused, to know which project to work, which project to prioritize.  Nick's first point that really struck home with me was to make something you need.  Several of my projects are things that I think will benefit others, but are not things that I need.  I can see in his points things that I struggle with on these projects.  Lack of motivation.  Lack of insight.  And ultimately lack of releases.  There is one project that stands out as something I need, something I want.  This project needs the lion's share of my time, which Nick has helped me see.

No one reads help

I have pushed this repeatedly in my workplace, oft to no avail.  But it was elegantly stated during this keynote.  My recollection, probably less elegant, is that if a feature needs a help file, the feature needs to be redesigned.  Intuitive experience is one of the most important aspects of your software.  I believe that customers will not open your help, but will instead just go to your competitor.  And you always have a competitor.

Staying Relevant

A large part of my life is spent staying relevant.  I do not want to spend the sunset of my working career maintaining legacy software.  I want to be a driver of technology.  To that end, I give up a lot.  Probably too much, but only that which I see as needed.  It is a hard rope to walk, managing family and work life.  I fail daily, but my family is provided for, I remain relevant.  But in the quest for relevance and skill maintenance, I tend to get distracted by making, and often drop the learning ball.  If this time is so important, it needs to be primarily time that makes me more relevant, more marketable, even at the cost of lack of software deliveries.

Make a difference

This was really something that hit home with me, and what really made me want to write this blog post regarding this keynote.  Nick's parting words were great ones in my mind.  

If you feel like you're wasting your time creating software you don't believe in, find a way to stop doing that.  Find a way to create software that makes a difference. - Nick Bradbury

For me right now that way is to focus on a single project that I care about, that I need. Thank you Nick for delivering this keynote.