You're already doing behavioral science. You just call it system design, or debugging, or optimization.

Watch any good engineering team discuss edge cases, and you'll see behavioral researchers at work. They're imagining real users, predicting failure modes, designing for humans they've never met.

The problem isn't that engineers ignore users. It's that brilliant technical minds are looking for systematic ways to turn cultural insights into better code.

What eleven years partnering with engineering teams taught me

Engineers ask behavioral science questions all the time: "How does this break?" "Who maintains this?" "What happens at scale?" You're just asking them about systems instead of human behavior patterns.

At AWS, New Relic, or any of the technical teams I've partnered with (enterprise to early-stage startups), the smartest teams weren't just optimizing models: they were mapping organizational change and predicting behavioral patterns. Infrastructure engineers were already studying user behavior in logs and designing for human workflows.

You already think systemically. You already know technical decisions have social consequences.

What you'll actually learn

Design human systems like technical ones 

Apply the same systematic thinking you use for architecture to understanding human behavior. Trace execution paths through organizational dynamics.

Spot cultural patterns like code smells 

Translate insights about human complexity into architecture decisions. Document edge cases that actually matter.

Test cultural assumptions before shipping 

Develop methods for validating user needs the way you validate performance requirements.

We'll build on what you already do

You version control code—we'll apply that same rigor to tracking how human needs evolve. You know premature optimization causes problems—same with premature cultural assumptions.

The best engineers I work with understand that readable code and intuitive interfaces follow similar principles. They've noticed diverse teams ship more resilient systems.

Real examples

Database architects who design for developer mental models, not just query performance. Security engineers who prevent breaches by understanding human behavior around passwords. Front-end engineers who build interfaces that feel obvious instead of clever.

The outcome

Same smart engineer, better tools. Your code reviews will catch cultural assumptions. Your system design will account for how humans actually collaborate and adapt.

Six weeks, cohort-based. For engineers who know good technical decisions require understanding the humans who live with them.

I study how engineers navigate human complexity, then help teams systematize what they're already doing informally. The engineers I work with teach me as much as I teach them.