I was talking with a friend who designs web forms, among other things. We were trying to figure out what it might mean to represent Jesus at work. Other than telling your coworkers that Jesus loves them. Which, though it is true, often does not fit in the conversation.

I suggested that it might mean doing amazing work in how you code web forms.

For example, what if you thought about the people filling out the form, the people often frustrated by illegibility, tiny arrows, obscure options in drop-down menus, and color distinctions indecipherable to those who only see in gray? What if you started from the premise that if Jesus were designing web forms, his love would be evident?

You would consider how people think, how people respond to confusing choices, how best to phrase items to ensure accurate responses. You would consider how people get distracted, how people differ in reading ability, how some items are not either/or but are both/and. You would consider the diversity of your friends and have them test the form. You would create a form that is functional and beautiful.

And then you would consider the other designers that have to connect their work to yours. You would make connecting easy, you would document the connections. You would anticipate the interconnectivity issues that “always” happen and would do all you can do to minimize them, because, as much as it up to you, you want to live at peace with them.

You would create such elegant and usable code than people would always recognize the human accessibility of it, even if it took way more time than you get paid for.

And once in a while, someone might say, “Jesus couldn’t code better than that.”

And you would reply, “Funny you should say that.”

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First published 11/23/2015.