Not to derail us, but how should MR devs dress?
My feeling is we shouldn’t be wearing the standard enterprise / consultant software dev uniform of a golf shirt and khaki pants with dog walker shoes. That isn’t really who we are. ORMs are not the highlight of our day and our job doesn’t end when the code compiles. We actually care how it works and even if everything works we care if it is easy for the user to understand our app. We even occasionally open up Photoshop and Cinema4D.
We aren’t web devs. Hoodie, jeans and Converse aren’t appropriate either. We don’t chase after the latest javascript framework every six weeks. We worry pathologically about memory allocation and performance. Our world isn’t obsessively flat. It’s obsessively three dimensional. Our uniform should reflect this, also.
This is the hard part, but here’s the start of a suggestion of the general style (subdued expensive) for men (because I have no clue about women’s fashion): faded black polo shirt buttoned to the top, slightly linty black velveteen jacket, black jeans, Hermès pocket square, leather dress shoes. It signals concern with UI but not excessive concern. Comfort is also important (UX) as is the quality of the materials (the underlying code and software architecture).
Finally, MR/VR/AR/XR development is premium work and deserves premium rates. The clothes we wear should reflect this fundamental rate, indicating that if what we are paid doesn’t support our clothing habit (real or imagined), we will walk away (the ability to walk away from a contract being the biggest determiner of pricing).
Black, of course, suggests the underlying 70’s punk mentality that drives innovation. MR devs are definitely not grunge rockers. The pocket handkerchief suggests flair.
[This post was excerpted from a discussion on the Microsoft MVP Mixed Reality list.]