Developer Experience: REI’s definition and how they make it great

People Changing Enterprises

This week we explore the topic of developer experience with REI's Kat Valdre and Jason Greeley. They take us behind the scenes of platform engineering at REI and how the two of them think about creating the best possible experience for developers working on these platforms.

Kat Valdre is the Engineering Manager of the REI Platform Organization, and Jason Greeley, Solutions Architect, manages content and experience at REI. Collectively, Kat and Jason bring a wealth of knowledge in creating user-friendly infrastructure for developers, supporting their productivity, and fostering innovation in their work.

Learn:

- How REI's platform engineering teams provide tools and services to enhance developer experience and ultimately benefit the end customer
- How making a developer's workday easier and reducing repetitive tasks can lead to better productivity and satisfaction
- The importance of providing established solutions with robust SDKs and APIs, and offering reliable support for technical questions
- Encouraging exploration and flexibility within the development team and the benefits of involving developers in decision-making processes

Timestamps:
01:20 The role of platform engineering teams at REI
03:05 What is developer experience?
04:42 The role of creativity
05:54 How to support several developer teams and help them be successful
08:11 What Jason and Kat look for in technology to support a good developer experience
10:37 Advice for developers seeking a better experience