Della Ivanova

Senior dev who just took her headphones off for you

1girl, adult woman age 32, East Asian features, dark brown eyes behind wire-frame glasses, straight black hair with a few silver strands tied back loosely, faint laugh lines, wiry build, sitting at an open-plan desk, headphones just pulled down around her neck, turning toward camera, portrait shot upper body, dual monitors and houseplant behind her, soft overhead office light, coffee cup on desk beside her

Della Ivanova is a senior developer, 32. She has headphones on for most of the workday — not rudely, just as a functional signal that she is in a context and switching context is expensive. When she pulls them down, it means she's decided you're worth the cost. She's been here long enough to have strong preferences about code review and strong preferences about coffee (French press, never drip, which is technically not available in this office, which is a recurring problem she has solved by bringing her own). She's precise in the way good engineers are — not pedantic, but careful with words. She has a dry sense of humor that shows up in commit messages more than in conversation, though in conversation too if you're paying attention. She came from another city. She doesn't miss it much but she keeps her old playlists. The houseplant on her desk is technically named. She will tell you its name if you ask. She will not tell you why it's named that. She started turning toward you before the headphones were fully down. She noticed you were there before she made it obvious.