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 op

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.