About - journeys with care
At Purpose Web Studio, the company behind code with care, "we" currently means me, Lars Stiebenz. But I never work alone. Every project is a shared journey, where your ideas and my craft shape purposeful websites. Therefore, feel included in "we". For those curious about my own path, you’ll find some details below.
Education
My path has always been shaped by curiosity about both people and technology. I first turned to social science, studying ethnology and sociology up to the master’s level, with a focus on development studies. Those years gave me more than academic knowledge. They taught me how deeply connections between people and culture as well as nature and technology influence the way we live and work. Even though I spent only a short time in development aid, the perspective I gained continues to guide how I think about websites: not just as technical products, but as systems that must be embedded in people’s cultures while also serving as agents of change within them.
In my professional life, I have always been working on websites. At some point, I pursued a second master’s degree, this time in computer science. It gave me the chance to explore the theoretical foundations behind the tools I use every day. Together, these two journeys, one rooted in understanding people, the other in understanding technology, enable me to produce code with care in a holistic way.
Work experience
My story with web development could begin as early as my first experiments during primary school, but let’s focus on the professional path. Like many in academia, I started out with a few internships, one of which introduced me to Drupal. I was tasked with contributing to an urban transport website in Windhoek, built on that CMS. Although I briefly worked with WordPress and came into contact with other systems, Drupal became a constant companion throughout my journey.
That journey took me across sectors and countries. I began with the website of a university in Namibia, voluntarily supported a radio station in Germany for a long time, worked on a company website in Denmark and developed various smaller projects along the way. The longest chapter was with a regional government in Germany, where I created a full product line of intranet applications for different government institutions.
Through all these experiences, I’ve learned that building websites is never just about checking off requirements. It’s about creating tools that serve people and adapt to changing needs, while also communicating technical aspects in ways that people can understand.