Photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg / CC-BY

“I love to help with your project, but i can’t code.”
“This hackathon sure sounds cool, but i can’t program.”
“That competition sounds awesome, but i ‘m not a coder.”

Sounds familiar? I’ve heard this question dozens of times the last couple of years: non-coders who want to help with a technical project, but are afraid to do so, because they can’t code.

That’s a pity, because i feel there are many ways non-coders can help coders and work to create awesome things together.

So, how can you, as a non-programmer help a coder?

Here’s a dirty little secret that many people don’t know: coders actually don’t code that much. I’ve seen various numbers, but in my own experience ‘real’ coding, like typing code on a keyboard in a text editor, takes only between 2 to 3 hours during an average 8-hour workday.

So what does a coder do in those other 5 to 6 hours? Here are some things a typical web developer might do:

• Discuss the interface design with the designer.
• Test the site on a variety of browsers and devices (tablet, phones, desktops, etc.)
• Tweak the design where it doesn’t really work in the browser.
• Write bug reports.
• Reproduce bugs and confirm with the bug reporter that’s the problem.
• Communicate about feature requests and bugs.
• Google for error messages and how to fix specific bugs.
• Add test data to a CMS to check if it works.
• Clean up an Excel or CSV dump with data, or import it in a database.
• Sketch out possible solutions for a user story.
• Decide which task is most important.
• Write blog posts, send out tweets, make screenshots of the product.

See a pattern here? Indeed, all of these activities don’t require writing a single line of code. Of course, not all of these tasks might easily be done by somebody else, but i bet there are a few of these you can help out with.

Here are some examples:

• Flesh out user stories that exhaustively detail a specific function or workflow of the product.
• If you know how to use Photoshop / Illustrator: create and/or tweak the design.
• If you don’t: do some paper prototyping to help with the interface design.
• Test the product in all possible browser/OS combinations and write bug reports.
• If you’re handy with Excel: clean up the data and export it to a exchangeable format (e.g. CSV).
• Write / blog / tweet about the product.
• Create a video / graphic / powerpoint about the product.
• Setup a blog / site / Facebook page showcasing the product.
• Do the paperwork for the competition / hackathon / startup.
• Do some fast and simple user testing.
• Track usage of the product using an analytics package.
• Communicate with the client / user / designer.
• Fill the database / CMS with ‘real’ content.
• If you can’t program but do know how to use the command line: setup servers, hosting and deployment procedures.
• Find the best and/or cheapest hosting / catering / workspace.
• Prioritise and assign tasks.

Easy, right? Hopefully, the next time you’re asked to participate in a technical project, you’re not afraid to decline because you can’t code. And, after reading this article, you still don’t know what to do: coders love free coffee and a massage at times as well ;)

If you have more suggestions on what you can do as a non-coder: post a comment or send me a tweet.

Add a comment

1 comment

• Daniel ockeleoen 2015-05-11 on 20:34

  Perfect post nothing to add except talking to developers when they are stuck helps a lot too the act of trying to explain your problem to someone is often a direct route to resolving it in your own mind.