Why is it so important to ensure a cultural match when hiring new software developers?

Why is it so important to ensure a cultural match when hiring new software developers?

Scio, Software Development

Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez

When talking about software development, what is a cultural match? Simply put, it’s having core values that align with one another—a synergy between two entities that promote success and growth. A cultural match fosters a sense of mutual respect, trustworthiness, and teamwork amongst its members, and when an individual and an organization have a compatible culture, it creates an environment conducive to collaboration, innovation, and great success in developing software projects.

Why is it so important to ensure a cultural match when hiring new software developers?

However, a cultural match goes beyond just technical skills and qualifications. It’s all about having an alignment of ideas and working styles that ensure smooth collaboration; it means having a great synergy between team members in terms of communication, how they approach tasks, their attitude towards change and adaptation, and desired work-life balance. All of these factors can contribute to faster turnaround times and better-quality products. Consequently, making sure teams culturally match is rapidly becoming a standard practice for many Agile organizations that value collaboration and team success over individual recognition.

For these reasons, it’s essential to ensure there is a clear affinity between the values of an organization and the individual developer when hiring new software engineers for a development team. After all, having a shared culture ensures everyone is familiar with how conversations will flow, decisions will be made, and how tasks will be broken up—this in turn leads to a greater rate of progress on projects and improved motivation across the whole team. Nevertheless, finding employees who demonstrate the same values and beliefs as the company can be more difficult than it looks. In no small part, a cultural match provides the foundation for a successful collaboration and ensures that everyone in the software development company is on the same page, sharing ideas and giving constructive feedback back and forth. The lack of a cultural fit can have a devastating effect on the dynamic of a team; without a sense of commonality, team members may not be able to understand each other’s perspectives or motivations, generating distrust and a heightened feeling of competition rather than cooperation. 

What’s more, the insular nature that can arise from an absence of shared values can stifle creativity and innovation, leading to alienation among team members who might not now be inspired or motivated in their responsibilities. However, it’s encouraging to note that even a diverse set of members from different cultures can come together effectively when each understands their role and the team has a shared purpose and identity that reinforces the idea of belonging. When teams are working well together, any cultural discrepancies end up being an advantage instead of an impediment as it helps broaden people’s perspectives and enhances creativity. 

In other words, a shared team culture plays an integral role in creating and fostering strong relationships among individuals—something that should never be underestimated when building a successful software development team that is capable of integrating seamlessly according to the needs and expectations of a client in need of Nearshore expertise and collaboration.

Proving a cultural match

Why is it so important to ensure a cultural match when hiring new software developers?

Nowadays, it is pretty much accepted that achieving success in the tech industry demands not just technical expertise, but also the ability to work collaboratively and solve problems as part of a team. Culture is thus one of the most important criteria for any software development hire—more important even than experience and resume credentials. Your team needs to directly relate to each other and embrace the same vision for success; that’s how a great business gets built and grows. If you want a cultural fit among personnel that makes workflows more efficient and can lead to better results within shorter timelines, your company should first and foremost focus on finding the right match. However, in practice, how does this look?

“The kind of questions the candidate asks are very important, you should always take special note of them”, says Helen Matamoros. “It will always reveal where their priorities lie, as well as the stuff they get interested in: career plans, training options… Anything that has nothing to do with money is a good indicator if they are going to be good team players or not. If they start demanding out-of-the-ordinary requirements, like a specific computer setup (especially at home), or asking for assistants and similar things. They are not going to be good matches.”

After all, if a software company hires someone who isn’t a good cultural fit, they can risk a lot. They might end up putting in more resources without seeing the returns they would get from having an employee that gels with the team. It could also lead to conflicts among existing colleagues, which would be counter-productive for the productivity of the entire organization. In the worst cases, having someone on board who doesn’t fit can be damaging to morale, leading to high turnover rates which can cost businesses dearly in terms of replacing staff and having to retrain new employees. Ultimately, hiring decisions are best made with an emphasis on finding someone who will contribute positively to the established corporate culture rather than disrupt it. A good company should always strive to hire people who are a good match for its values and culture—it helps lead to a much more productive and satisfying workplace.

A culture of sharing

Why is it so important to ensure a cultural match when hiring new software developers?

Working in a software development company means having the privilege to partner with innovative, creative individuals who share a common goal of developing state-of-the-art technologies. While it may seem that individual minds could create powerful results, an important element of software development is the collaboration and sharing of knowledge between members of the team. Everyone brings their unique background, experience, and expertise; after all, a successful product requires all these pieces to come together at once. Sharing valuable insights with peers can lead to breakthroughs that single brains could not achieve alone. Furthermore, by openly sharing our knowledge we gain exposure and appreciation from others as well as benefit from their ideas in return. This mutual exchange accelerates progress towards creating greater products and pushing boundaries of technology beyond what we’re familiar with today.

“Sharing knowledge is a big part of our internal culture, so we always bring that up to gauge the interest of the candidate in doing so”, continues Helen. “Mostly by telling them about our Sensei-Creati program, if they are of a certain experience level, and see if they would be excited to participate and help more Junior developers to learn and grow. If they show certain reluctance to do so, maybe that could create certain friction down the line. It’s simply better to leave things at that if neither of us is going to be comfortable with that part of the job.”

Sharing knowledge within a software development company is extremely important so that everyone has a chance to learn and stay on top of the latest technologies, after all. Complex tasks become simpler when everyone knows the same information, making collaboration much easier. To ensure no one is ever left behind, it is beneficial to have regular tutorials or workshops where people can voice their questions or concerns and learn from each other’s experiences. Not only does sharing knowledge create a closer team dynamic, but also encourages curiosity among staff and keeps them motivated as they build new skill sets. 

This all highlights how maintaining a cohesive and collaborative software development team is essential to any organization’s success. When inviting new members to join, it is crucial to consider not only their technical skills but also whether or not they will fit into the existing culture of the company. By assessing both aspects of a potential hire, you can ensure that your company maintains a strong and productive development department, aiming to build a team of developers that complement each other’s skill sets and provide different perspectives. This will result in a more innovative and effective team overall. By following these tips, you should be able to find strong candidates that fit not only the job requirements but also the future of your organization.

The Key Takeaways

  • One of the most important trends of the modern technology industry is building the right internal culture to ensure that collaboration and communication lead to success.
  • That’s why it’s so crucial to ensure a cultural match between the organization and any potential developer looking to join in.
  • The consequences of a bad cultural match can be devastating for any team, leading to bad communication, delays, and frictions that almost certainly will mean bad outcomes.
  • This makes it very important to thoroughly understand both the values and expectations of the candidate, ask the right questions, and provide a very clear culture to ensure a successful collaboration down the line.

Scio is an established Nearshore software development company based in Mexico that specializes in providing high-quality, cost-effective technologies for pioneering tech companies. We have been building and mentoring teams of engineers since 2003 and our experience gives us access not only to the knowledge but also the expertise needed when tackling any project. Get started today by contacting us about your project needs – We have teams available to help you achieve your business goals. Get in contact today!

The importance of balance, leadership, and communication in QA: A chat with Team Lead Ángeles Banda.

The importance of balance, leadership, and communication in QA: A chat with Team Lead Ángeles Banda.

Project Management, Scio, Software Development

Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez

The software industry has never been the same since the advent of remote work. Before this, it was expected to be present in an office full of computers and development materials to get projects done, which meant that, for most teams, productivity and collaboration were limited by how far members could physically travel or commute. But at the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, the software industry had to adapt quickly to push work and collaboration online to keep business running beyond physical walls. And most developers had to learn new ways to stay productive from home – many being able to access their work applications remotely for the first time.

The-importance-of-balance-icono

Of course, remote work was something that had already existed prior to the pandemic, but this crisis pushed a lot of Tech companies into developing innovative digital solutions almost overnight, bringing unprecedented dynamism to the software industry. Now, it’s normal for many software professionals to access their work from any corner of the world, and companies benefit from this by being able to look outside their neighborhood to find top talent, instead of confining themselves to a local workforce that is more sought after each passing day. 

However, this has not been an easy change. Working from home as a software developer can present unique challenges when it comes to maintaining a balance, which often means finding creative ways to integrate personal time into an already busy work schedule. Being able to work remotely, of course, gives plenty of flexibility when it comes to managing the daily tasks at hand, and stuff that used to require commuting or travel can easily be completed online, but this has created the side-effect of blurring the lines between work and personal life in a way that many people hadn’t experienced before. When work is at home, separation is difficult to preserve. 

So yeah, managing a healthy work-life balance as a software developer working from home can be tricky. The key is to figure out ways to use this flexibility in your favor, by making sure that you plan and allocate enough time for each activity throughout the day – be it coding, hanging out with family, having meals together, or taking some time out for yourself. For this reason, we had a chat with Ángeles Banda, QA Analyst and Team Lead at Scio, whose experience balancing work, leadership, and family life can shed a light on the challenges of remote work and software development in the remote age.

A sudden change

Nearshore development runs on culture: Ensuring collaboration is at the heart of every project.

For a parent trying to work from home, the challenge of software development on top of childcare can seem daunting. Working on complex developmental projects requires laser focus, whereas being available for kids calls for complete attention and availability too, which can be hard to find all in the same day, never mind during a complicated situation like a pandemic going on. How to achieve that?

“The pandemic was a big game-changer in my life, not only because I started to work remotely back then, but because my child was born in 2020, barely a month before the lockdowns began. I was still on maternity leave when world came down that we would not be back to the office for a while”, says Ángeles about those days. “And that was good at first because all daycares had to close down, so I got the chance to be with my child during those first few months, but then I had to think of a way to take care of him while I worked. His dad is also on the same schedule, so it was a tricky thing to balance, and we had to figure it out as we went.”

Of course, Ángeles wasn’t alone in that. According to a study by Rutgers University, “prior to the pandemic, the percent of men who provided at least five daily hours of active childcare was 15%, but increased to 29% during the pandemic. For women, this percentage was 23% prior to the pandemic and increased to 37% during the pandemic”, meaning that it had to be a meaningful change in how work and personal time dynamics had to be managed to keep productivity during the early stages of the pandemic and onward. And this often requires some creative thinking.

“What I tried to do was change my schedule and work hours to suit what I was doing at home. For example, I worked from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, but I had to start earlier, at 7:00 am or so, when my child was asleep, so I could get some work done by the time he was awake”, continues Ángeles. “My husband and I also had to balance and schedule any call or meeting we needed to have carefully, trying to always have one of us free in case the baby needed something. It’s interesting to note how deeply your priorities change in this situation, so striking the correct balance was essential.”

Leading from afar

Furthermore, remote teams come with their own unique set of challenges when it comes to keeping productivity, and the key to successful collaboration is strong leadership that understands how to direct team members, assign tasks, and manage expectations. Good leaders find ways to keep the team engaged even though they can’t be physically present in the same location, encouraging constant communication to ensure everyone stays focused on deadlines and deliverables. With clear direction and regular updates, remote teams can accomplish great feats of software development, but achieving that requires a kind of skill that gets tested during a lockdown.

“This process had kind of a steep learning curve because, while I was trying to adapt my work at home with being a new mom, an opportunity for growth came along almost at the same time”, tells Ángeles. “I began as a Team Lead at the time, so trying to balance all of these new responsibilities was stressful, but it also comes down to the kind of team you have. I always try to keep things a little more personal, trying to know my teammates as people, which gives you certain flexibility to work more comfortably. Still, there were moments when communication didn’t work perfectly, so I had to iron out any bump in the team dynamics. I always try to solve these issues internally, talking directly to people and trying to keep our goals clear, and as time went on, we settle on something we all feel satisfied with.”

Remote teams that need to collaborate and lead from afar often have a more difficult time juggling expectations. So, to ensure successful projects, effective virtual leadership should focus on cultivating relationships as well as fostering an open communication platform between team members, which is what Ángeles learned to do. Leaders should strive to lay out clear goals, create consistent check-ins, maintain morale with recognition of individual team performance when needed, and openly invite both questions and feedback so everyone is on the same page. That way, developing a strong relationship among all members of the team can greatly increase the chances for success and make sure the development process remains efficient without compromising quality. When managed well, remote teams in software development can become a stabilizing force even during times of uncertainty. 

Assuring quality at every step

The evolution of the employee

With that in mind, we don’t need to explain how software development is tricky enough as it is. But throw in remote QA and you have a whole additional challenge. Quality assurance is an indispensable part of ensuring the final product meets the predetermined standards, but doing this remotely presents its own unique set of hurdles, like the difficulty of gauging the effectiveness and accuracy of a test while also adhering to time constraints and deadlines. Fortunately, there are ways to make these remote QA scenarios run more smoothly such as adopting automated testing strategies, employing communication tools that bridge gaps between team members, and staying organized even when managing a widely dispersed team. With careful planning and the necessary support, software development teams can navigate through the challenge of doing distributed QA with efficiency.

“I think the biggest help for the QA team was the openness of Scio to let us have all the equipment and everything we needed at home”, explains Ángeles. “It’s not like we could request absolutely anything we wanted, of course, but things like this iPhone or this Mac I have right here with me, even if I only use them to test applications and programs, made a big difference. I think it would have been easy to make us go to the office if we needed to make tests with these machines, but Scio made the effort of bringing all these resources to our home, which helped a lot.”  

However, beyond physical resources, QA isn’t something one person can do alone – it takes a village. From the Project Manager organizing everything to the developers creating solutions, software quality assurance involves so many different roles and responsibilities that without each one playing their part, success isn’t possible. This means that team members need to be creative while introducing new working processes and tools to adequately make sure that their end product meets customer satisfaction levels, yields high-quality results, and prevents any major surprises or hiccups along the way. To achieve this, Team Leaders need to keep close to this whole process, be it in person or far away, with continuous communication at the heart of it. As Ángeles explains:

“With the majority of physical interactions conducted virtually, QA teams need to be creative while introducing new working processes and tools to adequately make sure that their end product meets customer satisfaction levels. Intuitive visual feedback programs, clear-cut standards, and reliable bug-tracking methods must now be considered in addition to manual testing when it comes to developing quality software. It’s certainly not an easy feat, but overcoming this challenge will lead to better products and improved user experiences, nonetheless.”

Final words

The modern workforce is constantly evolving, and for businesses to remain competitive, they must remain ahead of the curve. Software companies like Scio that offer flexibility are doing just that – providing employees with increased job satisfaction and giving them the freedom to shape their own schedules. After all, flexibility is the cornerstone of a software developer’s well-being. Offering a predictable schedule and the freedom to work remotely empowers developers to manage their physical and mental energy more effectively by setting clear boundaries between home, work, and downtime. 

Additionally, shifts in working hours can provide an advantageous opportunity for developers to take preventive care of themselves while also enabling more collaboration when tackling complex tasks. As the case of Ángeles shows, flexible schedules supply both software developers and project teams with the ability to shift an environment focused on speed and execution into one that emphasizes thoughtful problem-solving. At its core, this kind of culture allows software developers to maintain a healthy focus on the task at hand while addressing their personal needs, which will always guarantee a positive outcome when it comes to software development.

The Key Takeaways

  • Although remote work was a game-changer in the software industry, keeping a balance between work and personal life is still a challenge.
  • At the onset of the pandemic, adjusting to these changes was difficult, and required support and skill from an organization to do it successfully.
  • The key is having a culture of growth and flexibility that offers access to the correct resources, and building teams with communication and collaboration at the heart of their dynamics.

Scio is an established Nearshore software development company based in Mexico that specializes in providing high-quality, cost-effective technologies for pioneering tech companies. We have been building and mentoring teams of engineers since 2003 and our experience gives us access not only to the knowledge but also the expertise needed when tackling any project. Get started today by contacting us about your project needs – We have teams available to help you achieve your business goals. Get in contact today!

What should you expect when changing jobs in Tech at the beginning of the year?

What should you expect when changing jobs in Tech at the beginning of the year?

Software Development

Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez

If you are part of the software industry, January is the perfect time to seek new opportunities. As the year gets going, many companies start new projects that need new talent and expertise, which could be the perfect way to make the next step in your career. Additionally, changing jobs can bring a more dynamic work environment and greater satisfaction by breaking up tedium and routine that often come with staying too long in one job. It’s never too early to start fresh, so why not make January 2023 your time for a change?

Changing Jobs 2023

After all, the start of the year is a natural time to resolve to better your career. Pursuing new opportunities has become easier than ever with remote working options that the best software companies offer. Around January, most Tech organizations usually start their recruitment process and are likely to hire from outside of their immediate network, widening the field of potential candidates. And it’s also worth mentioning the fewer distractions one tends to find around this time of the year can allow you more freedom to put your best foot forward with any application. All in all, January presents itself as the perfect time for any software engineer looking for a job change.

Consequently, software developers looking for a new job in the New Year need to identify what they want out of their next role and target organizations that offer the whole package. Of course, you should brush up on your skill sets by taking any relevant courses or obtaining certifications if needed, as well as making sure to network with other professionals across the tech industry to increase your chances of learning about job openings, but when it comes to deciding which company to work with, there are a ton of factors to consider, but the most important one is the corporate culture they offer.

Companies that invest in creating an enjoyable atmosphere don’t just have more well-adjusted employees, they tend to be incredibly successful, too. This is no accident — amazing things start to happen when people are in a positive environment that supports growth and creativity. Plus, you’re bound to appreciate your job a lot more when your coworkers become friends and your manager is someone you can learn from. Once you’ve identified organizations that match what you’re looking for, tailor each application according to their specifications. It may seem daunting at first, but the work will pay off when you land your dream job.

Finding a company with a great culture

SCIO Fintech 4

“Your company is growing. You’re reaching revenue goals and increasing the company’s market share. But how are your people behind that success?”, explains this Forbes article about good company culture. “How’s the culture? You can have a fully functioning business with poor company culture, but I’ve found that a company’s longevity and enduring success will depend on the people. Business success comes in many forms, but bad culture isn’t sustainable for the long haul.”

When it comes to looking for companies that value their employees and have cultivated a welcoming culture, there are a few key things to look out for when you are doing some research on the company’s website or social media presence. The best advice here is to look for the following to make sure the company you are eyeing is the best choice for you: 

  • Check out what kind of activities and programs they offer employees, and see how they reward achievements. The more a company invests in the growth of its collaborators, it’s more likely that you will find an environment where you can thrive and learn more.
  • Also, make sure to read any reviews from current or former employees that discuss job satisfaction and if they feel respected in the workplace. Having a peek into the “trenches”, so to speak, will always yield better insight than almost anything else.
  • Nothing beats first-hand personal experience though, so make sure you take advantage of any information sessions being offered to learn more about the company culture. 
  • It’s also worth reaching out for an informational interview with someone who works at the company or attends networking events where past/current members of staff may be attending — this is a great way to gain insight into the culture from individuals close to its source. 

So, if you’re on the hunt for a great software development job, look for «green flags» to help you make an informed decision. A good software development company should clearly demonstrate its expertise and keep up with industry trends. In addition to recruiting seasoned professionals, they should also provide the training mentioned above and education opportunities that allow staff members to build new skills. The workplace should be professional yet inviting, encouraging collaboration between team members while respecting each individual’s expertise. Always ask around — do other developers have good experiences working there? If you hear nothing but glowing reviews, set up an interview and take the plunge.

The people make the company

Changing Jobs 2023

Valuing people is crucial to success in software development, especially when dealing with complex technical tasks. On a day-to-day basis, everybody on the team should feel respected and valued for their contributions, no one should ever feel like their ideas are unimportant, and encouraging collaboration rather than competition is a must. A good corporate culture understands that working together with the same respect and empathy shared across the entire team allows ideas to be shared openly, letting all members develop innovative solutions. A unified team operating as a collective engine all working towards a common goal will inevitably be more successful than individual developers vying for recognition, thus explaining why valuing the people you work with is so important for software development success: it’s all about creating an environment for collaboration and collective innovation.

So, if you’re looking to have a long and successful career in software development, prioritize working for companies that value their people. At these organizations, you’ll have the opportunity to work with the best and brightest in the industry, receive mentorship and support when needed, and be rewarded for your accomplishments. Do your research before applying to make sure you’re targeting places that will help you grow as a professional – it’s worth it in the long run!

The Key Takeaways

  • The beginning of the year is always the perfect time to look for a new position in the software industry, for many reasons.
  • However, if you are looking for a new company to join, there are many “green flags” you should look for to ensure it’s a positive change for you.
  • The best software companies are those that value their people, offer chances to learn and grow, and encourage communication and collaboration among every team member.
  • Always ask around and see what a company has to offer before applying for a job. A good company would make this information easy to access.

Scio is a Nearshore software development company based in Mexico where we believe that everyone deserves everyone should have the opportunity to work in an environment where they feel like a part of something. A place to excel and unlock their full potential which is the best approach to create a better world. We have been collaborating with US-based clients since 2003, solving challenging programming puzzles, and in the process showcasing the skills of Latin American Engineers. Want to be part of Scio? Get in contact today!. Get in contact today!

The impact of empathy in software design: Is a single perspective always enough?

The impact of empathy in software design: Is a single perspective always enough?

Software Development

Written by: Sergio A. Martínez
Software design looks simple from a distance: understand a requirement, write the code, ship the feature. But every engineering leader knows the truth feels very different. Designing good software requires grasping how real people think, behave, and struggle. It requires building with the end user in mind, not just the spec. And that is where empathy stops being a “soft skill” and becomes a strategic advantage.
Imagine a user trying to navigate a new product that looks polished but behaves unpredictably. Buttons sit where they shouldn’t. The flow feels disjointed. Basic tasks take too long. Now imagine the designer sitting beside that person, watching their frustration unfold. For many teams, this moment is an uncomfortable wake-up call. It reveals a truth that slips through the cracks when we rely too heavily on technical requirements alone: design without empathy leads to products that technically function but practically fail.
Empathy bridges that gap. When teams take time to understand the intentions, pressures, and limitations of their users, they make better decisions and build software that feels natural to adopt. For CTOs and engineering VPs focused on product reliability, user trust, and long-term growth, empathy is not optional. It is the connective tissue that keeps design, engineering, and user outcomes aligned.
This article explores why a single perspective is rarely enough, why empathy should be treated as an engineering discipline, and how teams can operationalize it throughout the software lifecycle.

Why empathy matters in modern software design

The modern user doesn’t evaluate software solely by what it does. They judge it by how it makes them feel: confident, lost, supported, overwhelmed, frustrated, or capable. Their emotional experience directly influences adoption, engagement, and long-term loyalty. For engineering leaders balancing roadmap velocity with user satisfaction, this underscores a crucial idea: empathy is a practical input, not a philosophical add-on.
As software becomes embedded in more parts of daily life—from banking to healthcare to routine business operations—the cognitive load placed on users grows. Many products assume technical proficiency or familiarity with complex workflows, even when their audience spans a wide range of comfort levels. When teams design from a narrow perspective, they often misjudge how real users interpret the interface, terminology, workflow steps, or error states. A single viewpoint, even from a highly skilled designer or engineer, can lead to blind spots.
Empathy widens the aperture. It allows teams to interpret requirements through the lived experience of their users. Instead of approaching a feature from the question “What do we need this to do?” empathy shifts the conversation toward “How will someone experience this, and why does that matter?” This change improves decision-making across design, engineering, and product leadership.
Empathy also reduces risk. Engineering teams often feel pressure to deliver quickly, making decisions that appear efficient in the short term but create long-term UX or architecture debt. When teams fail to understand user behavior deeply, they unintentionally introduce friction points that compound over time: inconsistent flows, confusing interactions, or edge cases that multiply into future defects. In high-stakes industries—fintech, healthcare, logistics—the cost of misunderstanding users extends well beyond UI issues; it affects compliance, operational accuracy, and even safety.
This is why empathy has become central to engineering culture in high-performing teams. It enables more accurate scoping, clearer acceptance criteria, stronger collaboration, and a better foundation for long-term product stability. Teams anchored in user reality make fewer assumptions and avoid costly rework. In short, empathy is not a soft skill. It is a technical requirement disguised as one.

What empathy really means in software development

Empathy in product development goes far beyond “feeling bad” when a user is frustrated. It is the ability to step outside of the technical lens and see software through someone else’s environment, constraints, motivations, and workflows. In practice, empathy helps teams understand not only what a user wants but why they want it and what happens when those needs compete with real-world complexity.
Empathy involves multiple layers:
Cognitive empathy — understanding what users know, assume, or believe when approaching your product.
Emotional empathy — recognizing the frustration, confusion, or relief that interfaces can trigger.
Contextual empathy — appreciating the environment in which users operate: noise, pressure, interruptions, regulatory constraints, deadlines, or high-stress conditions.
Cross-stakeholder empathy — acknowledging that users are not the only voices: clients, product owners, engineering teams, project managers, and leadership each bring their own pressures.
This broader perspective is essential because software development often pulls teams toward abstraction. Engineers think in terms of data structures, edge cases, scalability, or architecture. Designers think in terms of patterns, components, and visual consistency. Product managers think in terms of outcomes and KPIs. Users, meanwhile, simply think in terms of tasks: “Help me get this done.”
When these worlds become disconnected, software suffers. Misalignment turns into rework. Assumptions replace research. And what looks elegant on a whiteboard collapses under real use.
Bill French, a veteran product leader, describes this breakdown as Empathy Design Disorder—a gap that emerges when engineers build efficiently but not empathetically, resulting in products that meet requirements yet miss expectations.
To reduce these gaps, empathy must be operational, not accidental. It should be part of how teams define requirements, validate assumptions, and evaluate outcomes. It should shape how engineers review flows, how designers test prototypes, and how product leaders prioritize scope.
Empathy turns abstract personas into real-world behaviors and prevents teams from relying on guesswork when clarity is available. When done well, it elevates product quality, reduces friction, and increases trust across every part of the user journey.

Getting into the user’s headspace

Designing with empathy requires intentionally stepping into the perspective of the user. This means avoiding the trap of designing for ourselves. Developers understand systems intuitively and may navigate complexity without hesitation. Users often do not, and even advanced users experience friction when interfaces deviate from expected patterns.
Understanding this gap is crucial. It pushes teams to ask:
What does this user need in this moment?

Where might they get lost?

What decision are they being asked to make?

What if they are stressed, distracted, or time-restricted?

What happens if they misunderstand the interface?

Empathy helps uncover these answers, but only when supported by structured practices. Some effective approaches include:
Field observation and user interviews
Watching users perform tasks reveals patterns that no requirement document can match. Moments of hesitation, confusion, or workaround behavior tell designers exactly where friction exists.
Task and workflow mapping
Mapping what users intend to do—not just what the system enables—helps teams design flows that feel logical rather than forced.
Feedback loops and iterative testing
Fast feedback cycles surface problems early. When engineers and designers respond to user reactions quickly, the product evolves before issues calcify into long-term debt.
Attention to detail
Subtle details influence user perception more than teams realize. Microcopy, spacing, button placement, error messages, accessible color contrasts, and mobile responsiveness all contribute to whether a product feels intuitive or overwhelming.
Cross-functional empathy exercises
When designers and engineers walk through the product as if they are first-time users, assumptions drop and insight emerges.
The goal is not to eliminate complexity from software—many systems are inherently complex—but to eliminate unnecessary complexity. Empathy reveals where complexity belongs and where it does not. It helps teams distinguish between what is required and what is simply unexamined design habit.
Ultimately, stepping into the user’s headspace aligns the product with human behavior rather than forcing human behavior to adapt to the product.

Empathy as a measurable outcome of good design

Empathy is not merely a mindset. It produces visible, tangible outcomes across the development lifecycle. When engineering organizations embed empathy into their process, they experience improvements in clarity, velocity, product adoption, and long-term maintainability.
Some of the most noticeable outcomes include:
Clearer requirements and better alignment
Teams that explore user perspectives upfront generate more grounded requirements. Misunderstandings fall, handoffs improve, and teams spend less time debating behaviors and edge cases.
Fewer UX defects and less rework
Empathy produces cleaner interactions. As user pain points surface early, fewer issues slip into production, reducing costly rework and elevating confidence in each release.
Higher adoption and user satisfaction
Users respond to software that makes sense. Products designed with empathy feel predictable, safe, and trustworthy—which directly enhances retention.
Improved collaboration between roles
Designers, engineers, and product managers communicate better when they share a common understanding of what users need. Empathy reduces friction and accelerates consensus.
More resilient long-term architecture
When UX flows align with real behavior, the underlying architecture becomes more stable. The system doesn’t have to bend awkwardly around redesigns, retrofits, or misaligned assumptions.
When fully integrated into development culture, empathy influences not only interface design but also technical tradeoffs, roadmap planning, backlog refinement, and testing strategy.
It also shapes the emotional relationship users have with the product. When people feel understood, they trust the software. They rely on it. They forgive its imperfections. Empathy creates that trust.
To illustrate the difference clearly, here is a simple comparison:

Comparative Module: Empathy-Driven vs. Requirement-Driven Design

Approach
Empathy-Driven Design
Requirement-Driven Design
Primary focus User experience and intent Functional specifications
Success metric Ease, clarity, adoption Technical completion
Risk More time spent on discovery High rework and user friction
Strength User satisfaction and loyalty Predictability in scope
Weakness Requires deeper research Often misses real behavior
In the end, empathy determines how well software integrates into someone’s daily routine. When teams aim to build products that genuinely help people, empathy becomes a measurable—and essential—outcome.

Key takeaways

Software succeeds when teams go beyond functionality and consider real user experience.

A single designer or engineer’s perspective is not enough to build intuitive products.

Empathy reduces user friction, UX debt, and long-term technical risks.

Feedback loops, observation, and attention to detail are key empathy tools.

Products built with empathy integrate more naturally into users’ lives.

FAQ

Empathy in Engineering Teams – FAQs

Why empathy strengthens delivery, reduces rework, and improves long-term product outcomes.

Empathy reduces misunderstandings, lowers rework, and helps teams build software that users trust, understand, and adopt more quickly.

Empathy adds discovery time early, but it usually reduces overall delays by preventing UX issues, usability defects, and misaligned requirements later.

Through user interviews, regular feedback cycles, cross-functional collaboration, and reviewing workflows from the user’s point of view—not just technical requirements.

Yes. Every technical decision affects performance, stability, and predictability. Empathy helps backend and systems engineers align technical trade-offs with real-world user needs and expectations.

Productivity Ratio: Understanding the “invisible work” of software development

Productivity Ratio: Understanding the “invisible work” of software development

Project Management, Software Development

Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez

We know that software development is not all just coding. As with any big project, there are plenty of tasks that must be fulfilled to create an effective end product, such as stakeholder supervision, decision-making, problem-solving, communication, and time management. Which is why it is  essential to have a clear understanding of the business goals of the software being developed, while also analyzing and interpreting the user requirements that must be worked into the development phase.

When-Excel-is-not-enough-icono

That’s part of the reason why productivity in this context is a tricky thing to track. Sure, you can see how long it takes to reach the end goal and measure it against timelines and expectations, but that doesn’t take into account all the nuances of software creation, as well as the challenges of debugging, refactoring, tweaking, editing and other tedious but crucial elements of every successful project. And this is further complicated by progress not always being linear — as soon as you start working on a project, it’s almost certain things will follow their own kaleidoscope-like paths that don’t always make sense from the outside. 

With all that, it might seem that tracking productivity is like nailing jelly to a wall: not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination, and sadly without a one-size-fits-all solution. Doing the required following isn’t impossible, though, but it requires finesse and forethought to obtain meaningful results. It also requires being aware of the “invisible work” going into the development of an application, and it requires having a complete understanding of how that many pieces fit together. Unfortunately, for some teams, ignoring the tediousness of tracking productivity can be seen as more desirable than going through the hassle. However, with the correct approach, any team can achieve such a goal.

Getting ratio’d

Productivity Ratio

Working with other professionals like designers, business analysts, or testers, is part of every software development project, so good collaboration skills are necessary to reach any goal. Furthermore, making sure that the tools you are using are appropriate for the task ahead can have a dramatic impact on how successful the project would turn out to be in the long run. All these requirements mean that a positive outcome demands a spectrum of skills, which makes the whole process more challenging, and not all of them are obvious at a first glance. In the words of this Crossing the Equator article:

“This invisible work increases the communications gap between the hidden, almost abstract world of coding on the one side and that of marketers, purchasers, and investors on the other. It’s a gap that can cause frustration and misunderstanding and can lead to employee turnover and a slowdown of business growth. It is usually the responsibility of engineering leaders to close this gap.”

In other words, measuring «invisible work» can be difficult due to the complexity of any project. While time and effort can obviously be used to gauge progress, many intangible elements must be factored into the equation, but it’s hard to quantify the value of research, problem-solving strategies, code refactoring, and investigating emerging technologies that all help to improve software quality. In addition, developers must often adjust their efforts on the fly if stakeholders change their expectations or new information comes in. As a result, measuring invisible work requires an experienced team who understands what needs to be tracked and how to factor it into the overall process. And one of the more interesting approaches to this comes from a very simple formula: productivity ratios.

Productivity ratios in software development are the gauge by which you measure whether or not a process is successful, indicating the amount of work completed versus the amount of time and effort expended. In other words, it looks at how much time and resources have been invested in a project, such as coding and bug fixes, against the end result. The productivity ratio, consequently, it’s an important metric for gauging how effective a development team is at producing quality work. And understanding how to calculate it can be an invaluable tool for ensuring a project’s success. The formula to do so can be expressed as the following:

productivity ratio

The tricky part, however, is how to define what the input and the output mean in the context of development. The most common approach is looking at the basic resources that go into the project (work hours, number of developers, cost per hour, among others), against a specified result, like development milestones reached, user stories, pull requests, and many others, with the general idea that something is being produced continuously. 

The result of the equation is then compared to a baseline (industry standards, or past development story, for example) to obtain an estimate of the total productivity of a given team. But how does this tie back to the invisible work involved in software development? Coming back to the Crossing the Equator article:

“It’s a human-focused thing. It also applies to collaboration, knowledge sharing, and team-building activities. Successful organizations build products that customers love, which can only happen when the right people are involved and treated correctly. Teams cannot afford to hire people who merely hit the keyboard to write code without any profound understanding of or connection to the end user. Understanding the business means understanding its processes and goals and ensuring full team alignment.”

A different way to look at development

Productivity Ratio

In short, without a holistic view of development, a productivity ratio cannot work as is because a lot of the effort is not directly apparent in the final product (like planning, writing documentation, ensuring clear communication between stakeholders, managers, and developers, implementing and maintaining the adequate tools, observing security, refactoring the code, etc.), but it’s required to guarantee the timely delivery of a product, its quality, and the overall success of it. 

After all, putting all the focus on coding is not enough and in fact can lead to disaster if other aspects of the project such as design, testing, debugging, and the actual use case are not taken into consideration. Without properly assessing these elements a lot of issues can arise while rolling out the software to customers resulting in wasted effort and resources. That last part is key: developers should take an all-encompassing approach by focusing on the final users as the overall destination of the whole process, and what they are getting from the whole ordeal is, perhaps, the most important point of all. Consequently, an effective productivity ratio should be defined less in terms of input/output, and more like:

productivity work

The core of this approach is to stop seeing the development process as an isolated black box where effort goes in and results come out, and instead get into a mindset of the “total work” output by a team against what the client and final user will be receiving. This should not just be an abstract idea but rather a value that’s central to all efforts during production, helping align everyone with a clear goal. Additionally, when strong ties exist between a software development team and its users, trust is established allowing for up-front feedback before any changes or upgrades would be made, all but ensuring that technical implementations fit with user expectations. Bottom line – all software development projects should prioritize the user experience, helping teams align their efforts from day one. Making sure everyone understands and is deeply invested in this user focus allows for more meaningful and consistent collaborations internally, bridging the gap between the visible and invisible work. Ensuring there is a clear baseline for the productivity ratio, will end up manifesting into an ideal, successful product that satisfies users completely.

The Key Takeaways

  • Productivity is always an important concern for any software development project because it can give a clear picture of the effort and resources put into development.
  • One of the biggest challenges of tracking productivity is the “invisible work” involved in creating a successful application, which is never obvious in the final product.
  • A successful approach might be the “productivity ratio” that measures the input against the output of any project, but it needs to be used carefully to consider invisible work.
  • To that end, keeping the focus on the final product that the user will be receiving can give a better idea of the productivity of a team, comparing the ratio of effort put in versus what the user will be getting.

Scio is an established Nearshore software development company based in Mexico that specializes in providing high-quality, cost-effective technologies for pioneering tech companies. We have been building and mentoring teams of engineers since 2003 and our experience gives us access not only to the knowledge but also the expertise needed when tackling any project. Get started today by contacting us about your project needs – We have teams available to help you achieve your business goals. Get in contact today!

Do you want to be a great software developer? Embrace a Growth Mindset

Do you want to be a great software developer? Embrace a Growth Mindset

Scio, Software Development

Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez

What makes one a great software developer? When you work in a field where there is no “right” way to do things, this can be a pretty important question. Some say that the best developers are those who can find creative solutions to difficult problems, willing to experiment and take risks, always learning from their mistakes. Others say that a great developer has a strong understanding of the latest technologies and trends, enabling them to think outside the box and come up with new and innovative ideas. And yet others say that a good developer is simply one who writes good, stable code with discipline and consistency.

Cloud-Computing-2023

Of course, all of these are very good qualities for a software developer to have, but here at Scio, we think that there’s something else involved, a “secret ingredient” of sorts that every developer can have if they put in the necessary effort and that we encourage as often as we can: a growth mindset.

What is a growth mindset? Simply put, it’s the belief that intelligence and ability can be developed through hard work and practice. It means having the ability to constantly learn new things, adapt to new situations and be open to feedback with a willingness to experiment. It’s never getting too comfortable with your skills because the industry is always changing. We believe that the best developers are always learning, always growing, and always looking for ways to improve.

The research of Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has shown that people with a growth mindset are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks, take on challenging tasks, and embrace failure as an opportunity to learn. With this, you can see why any great developer would know that having a growth mindset is critical for success. Your skills can be developed through hard work, determination, and persistence, and this mindset allows you to approach challenges with a positive attitude and the belief that you can overcome them. It also gives you the chance to learn from your mistakes and view “failure” as an opportunity to evolve. Without a growth mindset, it is easy to become discouraged when faced with difficult problems or to give up when encountering setbacks. Getting yourself into this headspace will leave you better equipped to continue growing as a developer.

Developing a growth mindset

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As we said, a growth mindset believes that intelligence and talent are skills that can be developed, rather than static traits that you’re born with. The latter is known as a “fixed mindset”, which maintains that ability is static or predetermined, and there’s little you can do to change that. In other words, it’s thinking in terms of “natural talents” instead of “acquired skills” that can dissuade a lot of people from learning and improving an aspect of themselves, leaving them stuck in place. 

The idea of “natural talent” is very powerful. It’s often used to describe someone good at something seemingly without any effort, a sort of “Life’s Lottery Winner” that either you are, or you aren’t. However, this is far from the truth; what we call «talent» is simply the result of hard work, practice, and dedication, so anyone can become good at anything if they are willing to put in the time and effort. The belief that some people are born with inherent abilities, while others are not, is nothing more than a harmful myth, discouraging people from trying new things and pursuing their goals, because they believe that they will never be as good as those with «natural talent», no matter what. In reality, everyone has the same potential for greatness, but it’s up to each individual to get into this mindset.

But how to shed this worldview and embrace the idea that you can always learn and become better? How can you develop a growth mindset to become the developer you always wanted to be? Well, the most important thing you should know is that having a growth mindset is not always an innate attitude for most people, so it requires effort to get one. We all have a specific aspect of our personality somewhere that we believe impossible to change, that is just “part of who we are”, making us likely to give up in the face of adversity, stick to familiar tasks, and see failure as a reflection of our lack of ability, which is rarely the case. Recognizing the presence of this “fixed mindset” is the first step to start improving.

With that in mind, you should start by practicing self-advocacy. This is the ability to communicate your wants and needs to others, which requires an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Doing so makes it easier to identify areas of opportunity where you can improve a skill or learn something new. In software development, for example, you need a lot more than just writing good code; you need to communicate with the client and your team effectively, understanding their needs and challenges, and in a Nearshore company like Scio, often in a different language than your native one. All of these skills require time and commitment to master, so to get started…

  1. Make a list of all the skills you use daily, both hard and soft (tools, frameworks, platforms, and programming languages, for example, as well as stuff like planning, communicating with others, giving feedback, etc.)
  2.  Make a note of which ones you feel completely confident about, and which ones require more effort on your part. 
  3. Try to see what’s the difference between these skills: maybe it’s the amount of practice you put into it, or maybe you feel more interested in doing one rather than the other. Maybe you never had the chance to use that skill before.
  4. Apply self-advocacy to find the help you need to bring these skills up. Sign up for a course, ask a more experienced friend, or make the time to improve.

“By understanding what you’re good at and what you need to work on, you can set yourself up for success”, says Luis Aburto, CEO and Co-Founder of Scio. “If you’re aware of your weaknesses, you can take steps to improve them. And if you know your strengths, you can use them to your advantage. Which is an essential quality if you want to grow and evolve as a developer. By taking the time to understand what makes you tick, you can set yourself up for success both now and in the future.”

However, even after doing all of this, we understand that this growth doesn’t happen instantaneously; it requires a continued effort and the support of everyone in your environment to reach your maximum potential as a developer. This is why choosing to collaborate with an organization that takes growth seriously is just as important as recognizing your need to improve your skill set. After all, what good comes out of knowing your areas of opportunity if you don’t have the chance to act on them?

Growing together

Growth Mindset 6

However, a true growth mindset goes beyond simply believing that you can get better by just expanding your knowledge or your technical toolset. It involves taking the initiative to explore new skills and going through learning experiences outside of your “comfort zone”. In a previous blog, we talked about how actual “comfort zones” are less about getting stuck on a single place, without feeling the need to go beyond it, and more about expanding your areas of expertise, getting comfortable in areas of software development that are just as important as technical knowledge, but demand a very different kind of effort. Soft skills like  communication, negotiation, problem solving, teamwork or strategic thinking that will help you become a well-rounded developer. Going into places you have never gone before is how a person truly grows.

That’s why it’s so important to work with people that help you improve all your skills, or with an organization that provides opportunities for skill development outside of what you thought possible before, commiting to create a strong team capable of taking on any challenge. Companies like Scio, for example, know the value not only in offering workshops, courses, and programs like Sensei-Creati, but also in letting developers “stretch their legs”, so to speak, with assignments and responsibilities that might help them develop a new skill, like letting a Senior take the Lead in a project, or allowing people that not normally interact with the client to have a more “first hand” experience” to practice communication and planning. Actions like these allow taking something you are not “skilled at” and practice it to perfection on a daily basis, even if it’s outside of your normal interests. That’s how we participate in the creation of well-rounded developers capable of joining any team and overcoming any challenge.

So, to get back to our point, a growth mindset is essential for any software developer that wants to be excellent at their craft. With this mindset, you will never stop learning and expanding your skillset, always looking for new challenges to conquer and ways to improve yourself. If you can adopt a growth mindset and let go of preconceived notions about what you are and aren’t good at, you will set yourself up for success as a great software developer. And We will always be in need of those.

The Key Takeaways

  • A good software developer knows that the key to greatness is always improving your skills and learning new things.
  • To achieve this, you need to get into a “growth mindset” where improving is a continuing process that never stops.
  • To get this mindset, myths like “natural talent” or that there are things about yourself that cannot be changed need to be left behind.
  • However, doing this by yourself can be difficult, which is why you, as a developer, should choose to collaborate with a company or organization that sees the value in growing and learning at every step.

Scio is an established Nearshore software development company based in Mexico that specializes in providing high-quality, cost-effective technologies for pioneering tech companies. We have been building and mentoring teams of engineers since 2003 and our experience gives us access not only to the knowledge but also the expertise needed when tackling any project. Get started today by contacting us about your project needs – We have teams available to help you achieve your business goals. Get in contact today!