Gabriel Flores

Talking it through

My partner and I worked well together. Our colleagues came at it differently, though, and each of them put it a different way. Most of my time went to explaining what we meant, hearing what they wanted, and landing on a version everyone could agree on. I had never had to talk my way through a build before.

Always ask why

Every question from Sir Alvin started with why. Why are we building this. Why does it need to exist. Why change it now. The asking was the point. A reason you understand is a reason you can act on, so when something came up nobody had to stop and wait to be told. We adjusted, together, toward the same end goal.

Before that, I assumed whoever used what I made would think like me. Easy to believe when you build mostly for yourself. Features piled up and I never once asked if the layout made sense to somebody who hadn't written it. His question put a person at the other end of it. Someone at the front desk with a guest waiting, who either gets helped in that moment or does not.

his principle stuck. i still carry it

It was fun, too. My colleagues made it that way.