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How-to guides, tooling tips and real-world advice for developers and product managers tired of broken software. Let’s fix this mess together.

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How-to guides, tooling tips and real-world advice for developers and product managers tired of broken software. Let’s fix this mess together.

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Conveyor belt system built from LEGO

Legacy systems and delivery pressure: Symptoms healthcare tech teams keep treating

Healthcare product and engineering teams stay busy fixing bugs, modernizing systems, and shipping features faster. But when the root cause is process, culture, or misalignment—not code—the same problems keep coming back.

Cathy Colliver

Legacy modernization

A watercolor gecko resting on a stack of documentation pages, evoking a small, alert companion native to the terrain.

How to build a documentation companion with Claude skills: six lessons from the field

Jeremy Fairbank

Jeremy Fairbank

A tree made of LEGO with deep roots and a magnifying lens

Healthcare software teams keep fixing symptoms: Real problems run deeper

Cathy Colliver

Legacy modernization

Ensō (Zen circle) with digital flourishes

🐍 Functionally Zen

Kyle Adams

Future-proof innovative software

Double Takes

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Double Takes

TDDing with Claude is like having a pair that removes all the failing assertions every time you go to the bathroom.

Steve Jackson

State machines are the answer for those seeking determinism in the era of AI agents.

Dave Mosher

A Slack conversation left Doc reflecting on what bug bashes say about the systems we work in.

Doc Norton

Test-driven development is to programming what double-entry bookkeeping is to accounting.

Neal Lindsay

The fundamental character flaw of the software creator is not the misguided belief that they can solve any problem with software. Instead, it is the belief they can understand how their own software works before they create it.

Steve Jackson

We may need a SaaS appendix for Zawinski's law:

Any SaaS platform attempts to expand until it is a social network.

Matt Jones

Cog, danger signs, and chart showing metrics trends

Ratcheting to zero: How incremental constraints eliminate technical debt

How we made working with legacy code enjoyable: measure what you want to improve → automate it → make a change. Repeat. The demonstrable march toward improvement is what makes development satisfying.

Dave Mosher

Legacy modernization

tech-debt

legacy-modernization

quality

automation

developer-experience

Person standing in a tunnel looking out on a bright city landscape

From resistance to results: Why agentic coding requires a new mindset

A candid conversation among experienced developers reveals why initial resistance to AI coding tools often gives way to breakthrough productivity—and what that shift means for how we think about software development.

Dave Mosher

ai-ml

dev-experience

efficient software

productivity

professional-growth

Dumpster fire next to a bike shed

You’re holding it wrong! The double loop model for agentic coding

Joé Dupuis has noticed an influx of videos and blog posts about the "correct" way of working with AI agents. Joé thinks most of it is bad advice, and has a better approach he wants to show you.

Joé Dupuis

ai-ml

productivity

product-innovation

greenfield-product-development

Don't play it safe: Improve your continuous discovery process to reduce risk

We often front-load discovery to feel confident before building—but that’s not real agility. This post explores how continuous learning reduces risk better than perfect plans ever could.

Doc Norton

Product management

agile

discovery-validation

product-innovation

outcomes-over-outputs

Line chart increasing from left to right

How an early-stage startup engineering team improved the bottom line fast

A fast-growing startup was burning cash faster than it could scale. Here’s how smart engineering decisions helped them improve the bottom line.

Jonathon Baugh

Maximize software investment

efficient software

security

outcomes-over-outputs

Desktop computer with session flow chart and security lock

End-to-End Testing Auth Flows with Playwright and Next.js

Streamline authentication testing in your Next.js applications, regardless of your auth provider. This practical guide demonstrates how to use Playwright's powerful features to create reusable test helpers, implement efficient session caching, and debug with confidence.

Dave Mosher

testing

typescript

react

efficient software

Three people embark on a journey

ESOP explained: How employee ownership really works at Test Double

Being 100% employee-owned means every Test Double agent shares in the company’s success. Here’s how our ESOP works and why it matters.

Todd Kaufman

Communication & teams

teams

communication

community

esop

esop

Gauge dial with icons of happy face, arrow, and dollar sign

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat: being bold amidst uncertainty

What should businesses do in the face of uncertainty? This is not the first time leaders are dealing with strange economic environments, and it won’t be the last.

Ed Frank

Maximize software investment

budgeting

efficient software

eliminate-waste

outcomes-over-outputs

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