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What's wrong with being a developer and saying that you "don't do design"? Even in the context of this article, that can very simply mean that, you've never do

What's wrong with being a developer and saying that you "don't do design"? Even in the context of this article, that can very simply mean that, you've never done design and therefore aren't good at it because you haven't worked at it. (This is certainly true for me; even though I'm both a talented coder and musician, I've never spent an hour trying to get better at design and hence don't try to foist my mediocre design skills on anyone.)

trafficlight 15y ago
But that doesn't mean that you couldn't be a designer if you really want to spend the time working at it. The OP is saying that a lot of people take the "I'm not a designer" label to heart and think they could never be one.
hammerdr 15y ago
I think you might be surprised at how much you can contribute and recognize in a collaborative design environment. If just one person spoke up at an architectural design session (well.. meeting..) about how they hate how they cannot tell which way a door will open, there would be many less frustrating doors in my life :) Inexperience at design means that you shouldn't be leading but that does not mean you cannot contribute!
- Jach 15y ago
  Unfortunately while this may work for design, it doesn't go the other way with programming, and so I then cast doubt on it working for design. I've never had opening problems with doors, so obviously I wouldn't think about designing them differently. I highly doubt I'd be the guy to think "Hey, we should put a 'push' or 'pull' sign on this door!" Several weeks ago someone posted on HN the fact that on some cars, the windshield wipers speed up automatically as the car speeds up, and vice versa, and concluded that the people who originally designed the wipers had never driven in the rain before. I've driven in the rain many times, and such an automation never occurred to me. My mind is elsewhere. As others mentioned, maybe if programmers wanted to, they could put in the 10k hours and be designers. The tricky word there is want, and it's not very easy to change core desires. And wanting isn't always enough, some people can put in the 10k hours and still suck. Some people can immerse their minds in a subject and still suck. To me, all-equal ability is as mythical as natural born ability.
idan 15y ago
Apologies, I didn't give the whole explanation. Becoming a great (or even a competent) designer or developer takes time and practice. There are no shortcuts. The issue is that many of us think that without becoming great (or even just competent), there's little point to attempting it at all. That's where I come in. Both design (a very diverse field, with sub-specializations and sub-sub-specializations, et cetera) and software development (ditto) are _disciplines_. You don't have to master them in order to become conversant with the fundamentals. Designers can learn the rudiments of programming. Variables, logic, control of flow. These are not difficult concepts to master, and they are universal among languages. Even the principles of object-oriented programming are accessible without going to a four-year college. The same is true of design, however skeptical programmers may feel about it. Artistic ability seems to be innate, creativity so hard to define that programmers write the field off, like wishing that you had red hair when it is brown. Nothing could be further from the truth. Others have pointed out in the comments that the best course of action is to start small and localized. Learn about typography; it has a lot of impact given that we read a lot of text on our screens, and it's a field with a lot of simple, prescriptive rules. Learn a little about cognitive theory—how our minds process our sense of sight, and how you can help the viewer's mind process your message more efficiently. Learn a little color theory. As software engineers, we are constantly learning a new language, a new framework, a new version of something. I fail to see why design topics are verboten in this regard, except for irrational fears. You're going to suck at first, but is that really different than how good you are the first time you pick up a foreign framework and start playing with it?
- colanderman 15y ago
  Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

trafficlight 15y ago

But that doesn't mean that you couldn't be a designer if you really want to spend the time working at it. The OP is saying that a lot of people take the "I'm not a designer" label to heart and think they could never be one.

hammerdr 15y ago

I think you might be surprised at how much you can contribute and recognize in a collaborative design environment. If just one person spoke up at an architectural design session (well.. meeting..) about how they hate how they cannot tell which way a door will open, there would be many less frustrating doors in my life :) Inexperience at design means that you shouldn't be leading but that does not mean you cannot contribute!

Jach 15y ago
Unfortunately while this may work for design, it doesn't go the other way with programming, and so I then cast doubt on it working for design. I've never had opening problems with doors, so obviously I wouldn't think about designing them differently. I highly doubt I'd be the guy to think "Hey, we should put a 'push' or 'pull' sign on this door!" Several weeks ago someone posted on HN the fact that on some cars, the windshield wipers speed up automatically as the car speeds up, and vice versa, and concluded that the people who originally designed the wipers had never driven in the rain before. I've driven in the rain many times, and such an automation never occurred to me. My mind is elsewhere. As others mentioned, maybe if programmers wanted to, they could put in the 10k hours and be designers. The tricky word there is want, and it's not very easy to change core desires. And wanting isn't always enough, some people can put in the 10k hours and still suck. Some people can immerse their minds in a subject and still suck. To me, all-equal ability is as mythical as natural born ability.

idan 15y ago

Apologies, I didn't give the whole explanation. Becoming a great (or even a competent) designer or developer takes time and practice. There are no shortcuts. The issue is that many of us think that without becoming great (or even just competent), there's little point to attempting it at all. That's where I come in. Both design (a very diverse field, with sub-specializations and sub-sub-specializations, et cetera) and software development (ditto) are _disciplines_. You don't have to master them in order to become conversant with the fundamentals. Designers can learn the rudiments of programming. Variables, logic, control of flow. These are not difficult concepts to master, and they are universal among languages. Even the principles of object-oriented programming are accessible without going to a four-year college. The same is true of design, however skeptical programmers may feel about it. Artistic ability seems to be innate, creativity so hard to define that programmers write the field off, like wishing that you had red hair when it is brown. Nothing could be further from the truth. Others have pointed out in the comments that the best course of action is to start small and localized. Learn about typography; it has a lot of impact given that we read a lot of text on our screens, and it's a field with a lot of simple, prescriptive rules. Learn a little about cognitive theory—how our minds process our sense of sight, and how you can help the viewer's mind process your message more efficiently. Learn a little color theory. As software engineers, we are constantly learning a new language, a new framework, a new version of something. I fail to see why design topics are verboten in this regard, except for irrational fears. You're going to suck at first, but is that really different than how good you are the first time you pick up a foreign framework and start playing with it?

colanderman 15y ago
Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.