This talk explores how UI and UX design principles such as layout, labeling, affordances, and hierarchy can help you write Python code that is easier to read, navigate, and maintain. In a team setting, Python code is not just instructions for machines. It is an interface your teammates interact with, extend, and depend on over time.

Many of the biggest slowdowns in collaborative development come from code that is hard to revisit. Opening an old file and struggling to remember what it does or why it exists is a familiar and frustrating experience. This talk shares design-inspired practices that help make Python code more discoverable and easier to return to, even months later.

We will look at how ideas from interface design translate directly to code structure. Concepts like visual hierarchy, layout, and progressive disclosure can guide how you organize files, name functions, and design function signatures so readers can scan code top-down, just like a well-designed page.

Topics include: • Using top-level structure as layout to improve scannability • Treating naming like labeling to aid navigation and tool-assisted discovery • Using spacing and indentation to signal intent and grouping • Applying decorators and type hints to clarify usage without adding noise • Using tools like black, ruff, and Pylance as consistency and clarity enforcers • Knowing when to avoid cleverness in favor of long-term readability

This talk is about adopting a mindset. Treat your codebase like a user experience, and write Python you will not dread revisiting.

Python for Humans - Designing Python Code Like a User Interface - Justin Lee