About Empathetic Development (Empadev)
The story of how a 2/10 shopping app led to a breakthrough in software engineering.
Our Origin Story
In November 2025, developers Sarah Oates and Anthony Kwiatkowski were frustrated. They had built what they thought was a perfect shopping application using advanced "vibe coding" techniques—rapidly iterating based on "vibes" and aesthetics.
The result? A beautiful application that was unusable. User testing returned a devastating 2/10 usability score.
Realizing that AI agents were great at writing code but terrible at understanding human nuance, they hypothesized a new approach: What if the agents could simulate the user, too?
They created the first "Customer Persona Agent"—an AI prompt-engineered to hold grudges, get confused by bad UI, and demand better accessibility. Empadev was born.
Technical Architecture
1. Persona Agents
Simulate specific user demographics (e.g., "Non-technical Senior", "Power User", "Accessibility Advocate"). They react emotionally to UI changes.
2. UX Agents
Interpret the emotional feedback from personas and translate it into actionable design specifications and wireframes.
3. Developer Agents
Execute the code changes required by the UX agents, with strict adherence to the improved specifications.
Paradigm Comparison
| Feature | Traditional UCD | Vibe Coding | Empadev |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Feedback | Slow (Weeks) | Non-existent | Instant (Simulated) |
| Development Speed | Slow | Fast | Fast & Accurate |
| Focus | Process | Aesthetics | Empathy |