Here's a first look at Developer Media's research on developer personalities -- and how understanding them better can help you better market to them.

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Developer Personalities - Brief
Jeff Hadfield
jeff@developermedia.com / @jhadfield

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Developers are
different.

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To be successful, you
must understand
how your customers
and prospects think.

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Odds are, you don't
think like a
developer.
Here’s why.

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Devs: What's Your Personality Type?
“Take the MBTI and tell us your type”
949 pro devs on CodeProject responded
98.5% confidence level
Representing 4M monthly visitors
Thus, representing devs worldwide

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What’s the MBTI?
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator builds on Jung's work
16 different personality archetypes
Described by four-letter acronym
Not perfect, but nothing is

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What We Used to Think
“The most common
personality type for software
developers is ISTJ.”
Sources: 1985 and 1990 studies.

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Developer Personalities
INTJ
29%
ISTJ
14%
ENTJ
13%
INFJ
8%
INTP
7%
Other
29%
ISTJ is the least different
from everyone else
(What We Used to Think … is Wrong)
INTJ is the most
common developer
personality type
The other 11 personality
types, all about 2-3% each

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1 in 40 people in the US is a software developer.
25% of people are INTJ, ISTJ, ENTJ INFJ or INTP
71% of developers are those types

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3%
13%
4%
2%
5%
29%
14%
13%
8% 7%
26%
2%
9%
6%
3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
INTJ ISTJ ENTJ INFJ INTP
US population Developers Difference

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Personalities can be grouped
into “types,” and 3 of the main
developer personality types are
“NT,” or “Rationals.”

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Driven to master skills
Love to achieve
Objective
Reason with facts
“Rational” personality types

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Thus, developer messaging could
Relate to mastering skills
Show achievement
Be objective
Reason with facts

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There’s more … just ask!
Jeff Hadfield, CXO
jeff@developermedia.com / @jhadfield

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Sources and notes
Developer Media is a trademark of Developer Media and CodeProject is a registered
trademark of CodeProject Solutions, Inc. All other trademarks used are the property
of their respective owners. Sources and references: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(http:///www.myersbriggs.com), US Distribution of MBTI types via CAPT
(http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/estimated-frequencies.htm, note medians
used here), CodeProject self-identification Survey
(http://www.codeproject.com/script/Surveys/Results.aspx?srvid=1477), (CodeProject
MBTI Survey (http://www.codeproject.com/Surveys/1454/Whats-your-
personality.aspx) — noting that 949 developers responded, providing a 98.5%
confidence against the approximately 4 million unique monthly visitors to the site
(the population). That sample size suggests up to a 4% margin of error. Also see
Please Understand Me by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates, Professional Software
Development by Steve McConnell. Also, the new Alice Russell album is great.