Dev.Project - Developer-Centric Social Platform
Role
Sole Product Designer
Duration
12 weeks
Context
A developer friend approached me to collaborate on a project to test their engineering skills and needed a designer to shape the experience. The brief was open: build a social platform that developers would actually want to use.
We agreed on a tight scope: skip onboarding, focus on the core experience, and respect the dark-mode preference most developers default to.
The Problem
Design a social platform where developers can share, discover, and connect without the noise of general-purpose networks.
My Approach
Design a social platform where developers can share, discover, and connect without the noise of general-purpose networks.
Design Thoughts
Dark as default: Developers spend hours in dark-themed IDEs and terminals, and reduced eye strain for extended browsing sessions
Content-first: Code and projects over hot takes
Identity by stack: Communities and profiles organised around technologies
Security as default: 2FA, privacy controls, secure logout
Reflection
This was a collaboration-first project; my partner brought the engineering challenge, I brought the product thinking. It taught me that designing for developers means meeting them where they are: dark mode, minimal fluff, and respect for their time.
If revisiting today, I'd add:
Search UI: Currently reads as light mode, breaking the dark-first immersion. I'd redesign it to blend seamlessly into the dark palette
Logout dialogue: Needs visual consistency with the dark theme; currently feels like an afterthought
GitHub integration for auto-pulling repos
In-app code execution (Replit-style embeds)
Web3 auth wallet login for the crypto-dev overlap
Feature
What i designed
Why it matters
Messaging
DMs, group chats, community threads
Collaboration starts with a message
Feature
What i designed
Why it matters
Alerts for new messages, community updates, and important events
Keeps users in the loop without spam. Smart, not noisy
Feature
What i designed
Why it matters
User Profile
Skills, projects, portfolio links, activity feed
The developer résumé is their code. Profiles showcase that
Feature
What i designed
Why it matters
Settings
Notifications, privacy, 2FA, password management
Security isn't optional for this audience
Feature
What i designed
Why it matters
Logout
Secure session termination
Clean state = trust
