“Empathy-Driven Development is a human-centered approach to building software that uses continuous communication to generate trust and resilience.”
”We don’t code for the computer. We code for people through a computer.”
-Andrea Goulet, Empathy in Tech Founder
It Started With a Book…
In 2021, Andrea Goulet signed a book contract with a major publisher to write Empathy-Driven Software Development. It provides a practical framework that helps developers apply empathy throughout their daily work, As the book progressed, Andrea imagined a community where the deep nuances of empathy could be explored to help people, particularly folks who work in tech, apply empathy effectively. She purchased the domain, reached out to her network, and launched a newsletter on LinkedIn. She knew she was tapping into something important when over 30,000 people immediately subscribed.
Along came a friend…
Casey Watts had recently finished his book, Debugging Your Brain, which uses software development analogies to help people incorporate psychological principles in their daily lives. When Andrea and Casey were introduced, they became instant friends. They shared research papers, swapped stories, and provided emotional support to each other. After a few months, they launched a Discord server and began hosting workshops to widen the circle.
And then a COMMUNITY…
Soon, more people joined as leaders. Katie Werremeyer, who had profitably scaled a software company to 500,000+ customers in 120+ countries, began lending strategy and operational support. Nyota Gordon, who draws on decades of cybersecurity experience to help teams build software system resilience through developer well-being, brought her effervescent and joyful moderation skills to the table.
Events began selling out. Hundreds of people joined the Discord server and began sharing deep and meaningful experiences. Andrea’s initial vision is now a reality…and we’re just getting started.
“Empathy is a technical skill. So Let’s Approach it in a technical way.”
-Andrea Goulet, Empathy in Tech Founder