5 Stages of Developer & Human Reinvention
- Doug Shannon
- Sep 13
- 2 min read
(Letting go of code to rediscover the craft)
Weโve all noticed it.
Everyone uses meeting recorders now, but almost no one reads the notes. Why? Because we didnโt take them ourselves. They lack ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ, and ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ.
That same pattern is showing up in development.
As GenAI writes more of the code, individual lines hold less meaning. The real value is shifting. Not toward faster coding, but toward ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ for the people who use what we build.
Hereโs how that shift feels, in real life:
โซ๏ธ ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ โ โThis wonโt affect meโ
โช๏ธItโs just autocomplete
โช๏ธIโll try it when I have time
We hold on to the belief that being a dev means typing every line ourselves.
โซ๏ธ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ โ โWhy is this thing so wrongโ
โช๏ธIt breaks patterns. It forgets things.ย
โช๏ธIt feels like cheating.
But really, itโs asking us to rethink what precision means.
โซ๏ธ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ โ โIf I prompt betterโฆโ
โช๏ธ We learn.
โช๏ธ We explore.
โช๏ธWe adapt.
The tools go from frustrating to functional, but something still feels off.
โซ๏ธ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง โ โWhatโs left for meโ
โช๏ธ If Iโm not writing the code, what am I doing?
โช๏ธIf AI handles 90%, am I just approving suggestions?
Then comes the pivotโฆ
โซ๏ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ โ โThis is the job nowโ
โช๏ธWe stop focusing on typing and start focusing on ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ.
โช๏ธWe build for ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐, not just code correctness.
We design for clarity, for flow, for trust.
Because once code becomes fast and automatic,
the real skill is knowing what to build and how to make it ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐.
๐ก The best devs today are crafting interfaces, not just logic.
๐ก Theyโre designing outcomes, not just outputs.
๐ก Theyโre becoming ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค๐๐ซ๐ฌ with a focus on how people interact, not just how machines execute.
This is not the end of development.
Itโs the next level of it.