Developers Should Learn To Design
The sensationalized topic rampant in universities, Dribbble comments and conferences of ‘designers should learn to code’ is chimed in on regularly. Tech entrepreneurs, awarded designers and the like all have a opinion. The argument is centered around the skill set professional designers have. More specifically, Product Designers, UI Designers, UX Designers, Interactive Designers, Visual Designers, etc., are pressured to learn HTML, CSS and JS. This is to help shorten the bridge between digital conception and execution. However, why is it one side facilitating the other? Why not meet half way? Developers should learn to design.
Designers that learn scripting languages can become very proficient in them. However, it takes a good bit of time to obtain quality knowledge. The majority of designers will not be dealing in advanced JS animations nor wiring end points in Rails. Rather, they’ll understand the fundamentals of front-end code. They’ll understand what can and can’t be done through elements, attributes, functions and styles. This base familiarity is crucial for any designer working with developers or software. Any designer I’d hire would have to know the lines and boundaries of their concepts and the reality of their execution. Designers must come to the table with relative domain knowledge to development.
Though, why is it the designer’s job to try and bridge the gap between code and design? Perhaps, it’s stakeholders realizing that this extra skill in a designer is cheaper to obtain than hiring another developer. Developers typically make more than their designer counterparts. Maybe, some CTO flipped his shit one day when some junior designer wanted serve in a gig of imagery on a responsive site. Regardless of its genesis, it’s a valid point. For objectivity’s sake, though, we should examine the contrary. What if we start teaching developers to design? It’s no secret that most developers are as savvy at design as designers are at developing. However, we can round out our code-crunching friends, too.
To start, company cultures have to change. There shouldn’t be rigidly defined departments separating the two disciplines. Rather, they should intertwine as one. We do this at Everfest. There is only a product team. There is no dev team or design team. It’s just one. This allows for more communication between designer and dev to learn nuances and needs regarding each vertical. The idea of outsourcing across office should be foreign and disscouraged.
Next, developers should feel empowered to take attempts at design. They should not be silo’d into pure execution. Though, like a designer attempting code, they’ll need some hand-holding and feedback on the way. Encouraging them to make design choices will then have them thinking as a designer and inch their side of the bridge closer to the middle.
Lastly, we must consider the future of product development. Designers and developers are losing their outlines. They’re blending. What does that look like to tech in 5–8 years? I predict we’ll see much more homogenized roles. With that will come the need of more mutual understanding and implementation. Development won’t consume design, nor will design consume development. They will merge into a broader discipline. It’s already starting now. The pace we’re setting as a tech-producing species has a continuing tune of obsolescence. The adapters survive.
Developers should know design isn’t easy. It can look that way because it’s supposed to when done well. It’s not a predictable and mathematical system. It relies on sensibility and empathy. For that reason, we need logical and empathetic developers who understand they’re doing more than just checking functionality off a list. Basic concepts of color theory, alignment, hierarchy, branding, etc., should hold base familiarity with developers.
Let’s start getting developers to learn design. We’re here to help.
