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Good article with a lot of good points, but I was put off by this quote: "[UI Design] is not something every programmer can learn. Most programmers don’t have

Good article with a lot of good points, but I was put off by this quote: "[UI Design] is not something every programmer can learn. Most programmers don’t have any aptitude for UI design whatsoever. It’s an art, and like any art, it requires innate ability. You can learn to be a better writer. You can learn to be a better illustrator. But most people can’t write and can’t draw, and no amount of practice or education is going to make them good at it. Improved, yes; good, no." I get his point, but saying that everyone who isn't a natural {writer, illustrator, programmer, UI designer} will never be good is a slap in the face to everyone who's ever worked hard enough to get good at something (including the naturals). I think the "naturals" are the people who care enough to work, practice, think, and generally dedicate themself to becoming great.

iron_ball 18y ago
More to the point, the existing UX knowledge out there is so trifling, so paltry, so embarassingly miniscule, that even mere "improvement" could represent a thousandfold boon to the consumer.
- pchristensen 18y ago
  Exactly. Read Tufte's 4 books, or just Don't Make Me Think, or just read Joel of pg's stuff about usability, and you've gone from extremely shty to mediocre, but you're ahead of 80-85% of everyone else. Throw in a little about typography and color, and you're probably ahead of 95% of developers. You might not be the greatest in the world, but the state of the industry is so bad that you'll have a huge relative advantage.
puns 18y ago
I agree — I this what Gruber says is partly right. What you need is a desire to learn and love your craft. People who are passionate about UI design will be able to learn and develop great great interfaces. Those with no UI design talents and no motivation to learn will not. This very drive and passion is mostly innate — you can't really learn to love something (yeah, taste can be acquired, but here you need real passion)

iron_ball 18y ago

More to the point, the existing UX knowledge out there is so trifling, so paltry, so embarassingly miniscule, that even mere "improvement" could represent a thousandfold boon to the consumer.

pchristensen 18y ago
Exactly. Read Tufte's 4 books, or just Don't Make Me Think, or just read Joel of pg's stuff about usability, and you've gone from extremely shty to mediocre, but you're ahead of 80-85% of everyone else. Throw in a little about typography and color, and you're probably ahead of 95% of developers. You might not be the greatest in the world, but the state of the industry is so bad that you'll have a huge relative advantage.

puns 18y ago

I agree — I this what Gruber says is partly right. What you need is a desire to learn and love your craft. People who are passionate about UI design will be able to learn and develop great great interfaces. Those with no UI design talents and no motivation to learn will not. This very drive and passion is mostly innate — you can't really learn to love something (yeah, taste can be acquired, but here you need real passion)