Developer Day
Designing systems and in-person experiences that reconnect engineering teams through shared learning, participation, and community.
Role: Experience Strategy & Design Lead
Scope: Global · 6 locations · 2.1K+ attendees
Overview
Developer Day is a one-day, in-person experience designed to break down silos and create meaningful connection across engineering teams within the same office.
As Adobe scaled, engineers had fewer opportunities to connect beyond their immediate teams, and the broader developer community became fragmented.
In response, I proposed piloting a site-based, in-person experience to reconnect developers locally. Developer Day became the first experience designed specifically for developers, re-establishing community through a more interactive, participatory format.
Impact
The program began as a pilot in San Jose, where I tested core experience formats and interaction patterns. As those formats proved successful, it scaled to six additional global locations, evolving into a repeatable experience system.
I translated these formats into a playbook and toolkit that enabled developer volunteers to run Developer Day in their own locations, ensuring consistency in quality while allowing for local adaptation.
2.1K+ attendees
6 global locations (San Jose, Lehi, New York City, Bucharest, San Francisco, Noida)
44% of our developer population reached
166+ showcases and breakouts
95% reported increased connection to developer community
Designing the Experience
Developer Day was designed to prioritize interaction, connection, and shared experience over passive content consumption.
Designed for interaction, not passive listening
Creates opportunities for cross-team connection
Balances structure with flexibility
Celebrates real work and people
Leaves participants feeling more connected than when they arrived
Experience Flow
The experience was structured as a series of intentional moments:
Arrival & Welcome
Sets tone and reduces friction
Keynote
Creates shared context and energy
Technical Showcases
Peer-led learning and visibility
Social Connection
“Birds of a Feather” lunches for
interest-based informal interaction
Breakouts & Sessions
Deeper exploration
Closing + Social Time
Reflection and continued connection
Prototyping the Experience
I piloted Developer Day in San Jose to test experience formats in a real-world setting and understand what creates value for developers.
By observing how people interacted and what drove engagement, I iterated on formats across locations, refining the experience over time.
Certain formats proved especially effective:
Birds of a Feather lunches provided just enough structure for people to self-select into conversations, making it easy to connect over shared interests
Technical showcases were designed in a “science fair” format, creating an open, interactive environment for peer-to-peer learning and surfacing unexpected collaboration opportunities
As formats proved successful, I translated them into playbooks, toolkits, and repeatable models that enabled developer teams to independently run Developer Day while maintaining consistency and quality across locations.
What Participants Said
“You get to learn directly from peers, see how different teams approach similar challenges, and build connections that carry on well beyond the event. It’s the kind of experience that leaves you both inspired and more connected to the broader engineering community”
“The Birds of a Feather lunch was my favorite activity! Such an amazing way to meet new people and hear new perspectives as someone who is introverted.”
“Knowledge sharing between so many teams. In the end we realized we really need to work together as a community and build our future joining forces”
Designing for Shared Learning and Connection
The most impactful moments were not the most structured, but the ones that created space for people to connect, share knowledge, and learn from one another organically.
This work reinforced that meaningful organizational connection is built through participation, visibility, and shared experience, not just content delivery.
Defining what makes a great experience feel engaging and enabling others to recreate it became more important than designing any single event.
