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What we learned at the Insider Dev Tour: London

Following on from the Microsoft Build conference last month, the Insider Dev Tour kicked off in London with the aim of visiting over 40 locations around the world in June.

Talks covered many of the technologies shown at Build including Mixed Reality, Machine Learning, Progressive Web Apps and Microsoft 365.

The all-day event included practical demos from a delightfully engaging team of presenters with plenty of opportunities for fellow nerds to chat and learn together.

All the talks were great, but my favourite was from Dona Sakar and Jeremiah Marble of the Windows Insider team.

Saker and Marble started by talking about some of the benefits of being on the Windows Insider Program if you’re a developer and judging by the show of hands, nearly everyone at the tour was already an insider!

They quickly moved on to how developers can run their own insider programs for their applications, with advice on how to listen to your users and ensure that your projects are successful.

However, what really spoke to me was the way that Microsoft has empowered Insiders from around the world to achieve their goals using this same advice. Especially the story of Ange Uwambajimana, a Rwandan Windows Insider.

Ange noticed problems with monitoring IV bags in Rwandan hospitals while caring for her younger brother who has epilepsy. Digital systems are hard to come by, and hospital staff are stretched too thin, and problems with the IV bags can be just as deadly as the disorders the hospitals are trying to treat.

Thanks to the mentorship from the Windows Insiders4Good Fellowship program, Ange was able to start-up a new company to help tackle the problem of low-cost automation of IV bag monitoring.

The advice from Sakar and Marble comes from the learning Microsoft has made while building products for billions of people and can apply to anyone looking to make a difference with technology.

Designing software for the individual and paying attention to the human aspects of technology can help build great products – and businesses – in a way that designing for homogenised personas never can.

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