The power of 'developer days'

What are 'Developer days' all about?

Developer days play a crucial role in our digital team’s growth and innovation. They provide dedicated time for us to explore new technologies, experiment with fresh ideas and push ourselves beyond our usual routines. By stepping away from day-to-day tasks, we gain valuable insights that inspire creative problem-solving and drive continuous improvement.

We hold a developer day every few months, offering an opportunity to reflect on our progress as a team. It allows us to assess what’s working well, identify areas that need improvement, and collaborate on solutions that enhance both our workflow and overall effectiveness. These sessions foster learning, teamwork and a culture of innovation that benefits the entire business.

Evolving processes

The digital team handles numerous tasks across multiple projects daily, which can make it challenging to maintain a clear perspective. To address this, we review all digital projects, evaluating their processes to ensure they’re on track and identifying any necessary adjustments.

We continuously refine our development processes to ensure we are building in the most efficient and effective way possible for all our clients. Our commitment to continuous improvement allows us to stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape and provide the best possible outcomes.

Exploring new ideas

Sharing exciting new technologies we've discovered, and exploring their potential for our workflow, is a highlight of the dev day. It could be anything from experimenting with an advanced AI tool, testing out tailwindCSS 4 or exploring a new native mobile programming framework like Lynx.

Ideas generated during these dev days are turned into tasks, allowing us to move them forward over the coming months. We set aside dedicated time at d&f to experiment with these concepts, which is what helps us stay innovative.

Driving innovation

Having developer days sparks great ideas in the team. For example, previously we were discussing AI technologies and how they interact with the websites we build. We’ve been experimenting with some new ideas and exploring these possibilities for future websites. Watch this space!

We have had various ideas for internal tools that could streamline our daily workflows and enhance efficiency. These include a page speed analysis tool to help us optimise website performance and a TinyURL-style tool for generating shortened links with ease.

In the digital age, innovation isn't just a competitive advantage. It’s essential for long-term success and sustainability.

What’s next…

Our next developer day is going to be a little different, we're having a hackathon! This time, we’re challenging ourselves to build something from the ground up in just one day. The team will collaborate, combining skills and creativity to bring a project to life within a tight timeframe. It’s a chance to experiment, innovate, and push our abilities to new heights.

Want to work with a forward-thinking digital team that thrives on challenges? We'd love to hear from you.