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An evening about human-shaped software.

A meetup is the smallest way to start something, because all it needs is a room, a few people with opinions about the apps they live with, and ninety minutes. This guide is everything you need to host one for the first time, including the words for the two moments when a host is most likely to freeze, and nobody in the room, including you, needs to have written a line of code.

The evening, in 90 minutes or 60.

Anyone can gather a room and talk about the difference between problems a computer can solve and problems only people can, because that conversation is where human-shaped software starts. You are the host, not the teacher, so your job is the room, the clock, and the questions, and the answers belong to everyone in it. Each part below shows its length in the 90-minute evening first, and in the 60-minute version underneath.

  1. 10 min7 in the hour

    Arrive and check in from 0:00

    As people arrive, hand each one a name tag and point them to the two sheets on the wall. Once most people are in, give the opening, and then go around the room so that each person says their name and one app they use every week that they wish worked differently. Write the apps on a sheet of paper where everyone can see them, because the room will come back to them twice.

  2. 15 min8 in the hour

    Computer-shaped problems from 0:10

    Read Computer-shaped problems together, out loud or on a screen, and name the habit it describes, which Nilay Patel calls software brain: seeing every problem as a database waiting for code. Then ask one question and give everyone a full minute to think before anyone answers: what is one part of your week you would never want a computer to do for you? Hear three or four answers. In the hour, read only the page's opening section.

  3. 20 min15 in the hour

    Name the shape from 0:25

    Each person picks one feature in one of the apps on the list and, alone and in writing for two minutes, answers two questions: what can the computer carry here, and what does the person have to keep? Pairs compare for three minutes, each pair joins another pair for five, and then the whole room hears what each group of four noticed. That order means everyone has an answer before anyone has to speak in front of the room, which is most of what makes a room of strangers willing to talk.

  4. 5 minnone in the hour

    A break from 0:45

    Stand up, refill, and say out loud that the second half starts in five minutes.

  5. 20 min18 in the hour

    Read one real prompt, trying first from 0:50

    Choose one real prompt from Talking to your agent, along with the situation that led to it. Show the situation and keep the prompt hidden, then give everyone four minutes to write the message they would send the agent and four more to compare it with a neighbor's, and only then show the real one. Talk about what the builder wanted, what the agent got wrong, and how the prompt fixed it. Nobody needs to know how to code for this part, because the prompt is written in plain words, and it is where most of the building actually happens.

  6. 10 minnone in the hour

    The principles against an app you know from 1:10

    As a room, pick one app from the list that almost everyone uses, and read three of the Human-Shaped Principles against it from the sheet on the wall. Ask where it meets each one and where it does not, and let disagreement stand, because the principles are meant to be argued with.

  7. 10 min12 in the hour

    Close from 1:20

    Give the closing words, and then go around once more so that each person names one question they are taking home. Last, ask the room for one thing that went well tonight and one thing to change next time, and write both down, because they are what you will post afterward.

The hour drops the break and the principles, shortens the reading, and gives the close a little more time, so that nobody leaves without saying their question.

The same evening works online. Use breakout rooms for the pairs and the groups of four if your video service has them, or ask pairs to message each other if it does not, and read the situation for the prompt aloud as well as showing it, since a shared screen is hard to read on a phone.

The words for the opening and the close.

These are written out so that you never have to start from a blank page, and they are meant to be said in your own way. The part about how we treat one another matters most, because there is no code of conduct to sign, so saying it plainly at the start of the evening is how everyone in the room learns it.

The opening, about two minutes

Thank you for coming. I want to say what tonight is for before we start, because it is probably not what you expect from an evening about software. Nobody here needs to have written a line of code, and I am not here as an expert, only as the person who found the room. We are going to talk about the apps we already live with, notice which of their problems a computer can actually solve and which ones only a person can, and leave with one good question each.

The two sheets on the wall are where tonight's ideas come from: the Human-Shaped Principles, and four questions to ask before anything gets built. They are free for anyone to use, including you, tomorrow.

Here is how we treat one another tonight, said out loud rather than signed. Let people finish their thought, nobody acts surprised that someone else has not heard of something, and nobody corrects a small detail that does not change the point. If something lands badly, say so kindly and we will keep going. You can pass on any question, and if you need to step out at any point, step out.

The close, about a minute

Before we go, I want to hear one question from each of you, the one you are taking home that you could not have asked when you walked in. (Go around the room.)

Thank you. If one of those questions keeps bothering you this week, that is usually the start of something worth building, and there are three places to take it: the humanshaped discussions on GitHub, where people who build this way talk with one another; a free five-week cohort, if you want to build an app of your own with other people; or the template on GitHub, if you would rather start tonight on your own. I will post our questions in the discussions so that the next room can start from them, and I hope to see you at the next one.

What to bring.

  • The principles and the four questions, printed, one of each on the wall and a few copies to pass around.
  • The run sheet from the bottom of this page, printed for yourself.
  • Name tags, thick markers, plain paper, pens, and sticky notes if you have them.
  • A screen for Computer-shaped problems and Talking to your agent, or printed copies of both if the room has no screen, so that nothing in the evening depends on the internet.
  • Water, and food if you can, labeled with what is in it.
  • The meetup name for your flyer and your slides, from the brand kit.

The announcement, ready to adapt.

Change everything in square brackets, and keep the line about access even if all it says is what the room does not have yet, because people decide whether to come based on what an announcement leaves out.

Human-Shaped Meetup: an evening about software built for people

[Day and date], [start time] to [end time], at [the place, the room, and how to find it].

Some problems can be handed to a computer, and some only a person can do, like learning something, looking after someone, or keeping a friendship going. Human-shaped software is built for the second kind. Come spend an evening talking about the apps you already live with, which of their problems a computer can actually solve, and what it would take to build something better. You do not need to have written any code, and you do not need to bring anything but your opinions about the apps on your phone.

It is free, and it follows the Human-Shaped Principles from humanshaped.org.

Access: [a step-free entrance, an accessible restroom, seating throughout, a quiet space, and captions or a way to join online, if you have them]. If something else would help you take part, tell [your name] at [how to reach you] and we will do what we can.

Say you are coming at [link or email], so that we know how many chairs to set out.

Making room for everyone.

  • Choose a room with a step-free entrance and an accessible restroom, and say so in the announcement, rather than waiting for someone to ask.
  • Read aloud anything you put on a screen, and print the sheets large enough to read from a chair. The four questions sheet is already set in type large enough to read across a room.
  • Nobody ever has to speak to the whole room. Thinking alone and in pairs comes first in every part, and "pass" is always an answer.
  • Keep the break at the halfway point, and say in the opening that anyone can step out whenever they need to.
  • If anyone joins online, turn on captions, repeat questions from the room into the microphone, and give the people online a pair of their own.
  • Leave room on the name tags for pronouns, and never ask anyone to fill it in.
  • End when you said you would, since people plan rides, childcare, and medication around the time on the announcement.

Afterward, post what the room learned.

Within a few days, while you still remember it, start a discussion in the humanshaped discussions on GitHub, so that the next person who hosts one can start from what your room learned. A useful post says where and when you met and roughly how many came, the questions people took home (without names, unless someone asked to be named), the one thing that went well and the one to change, and anything you changed in this guide that worked. Share photos only if everyone in them said yes.

If people want to keep going, point them to a free cohort, to a Human-Shaped Hackathon, or to the template, and say in the same discussion what in this guide did not work, so that it can change.

humanshaped

The meetup, at a glance

For the host. Everything else you need is at humanshaped.org/start/meetup.

90 minutes

0:00Arrive and check in. The opening, then a name and one app you wish worked differently.
0:10Computer-shaped problems. Read it, name software brain, a minute of quiet, then: what would you never hand to a computer?
0:25Name the shape. Alone 2, pairs 3, fours 5, then the room: what does the computer carry, and what does the person keep?
0:45A break.
0:50One real prompt, trying first. Write yours 4, compare 4, see the real one, talk.
1:10Three principles against an app everyone uses.
1:20Close. The closing words, one question each, one thing that went well and one to change.

60 minutes

0:00Arrive and check in.
0:07Computer-shaped problems, the opening section only.
0:15Name the shape.
0:30One real prompt, trying first.
0:48Close.

How we treat one another

  1. Let people finish their thought.
  2. Nobody acts surprised that someone has not heard of something.
  3. Nobody corrects a detail that does not change the point.
  4. If something lands badly, say so kindly and keep going.

The opening

Thank you for coming. Nobody here needs to have written a line of code, and I am not here as an expert, only as the person who found the room. We are going to talk about the apps we already live with, notice which of their problems a computer can actually solve and which ones only a person can, and leave with one good question each. The sheets on the wall are where the ideas come from, and they are free for anyone to use. Then say how we treat one another, that anyone can pass, and that anyone can step out.

The close

One question from each of you, the one you could not have asked when you walked in. If it keeps bothering you, take it to the humanshaped discussions on GitHub, a free five-week cohort, or the template on GitHub. I will post our questions so that the next room can start from them.

Afterward, post what the room learned at github.com/orgs/humanshaped/discussions. Shared under CC BY 4.0, so copy it, change it, and say where it came from.

The shape of this evening borrows from Peer 2 Peer University's learning circles (a check-in to open, and what went well and what to change to close), from Liberating Structures (thinking alone, then in pairs, then in fours, then all together), and from the Recurse Center's social rules, all restated in our own words. The sources are in the research notes.