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I hate to be that guy, but this isn't "Design Secrets For Engineers", it's "Design Secrets For Software Engineers." (or developers/UIX/etc). "Keep visual hiera

I hate to be that guy, but this isn't "Design Secrets For Engineers", it's "Design Secrets For Software Engineers." (or developers/UIX/etc). "Keep visual hierarchy in check" and "Use designer fonts" isn't very useful advice in designing an instrumented hammer... "Engineering," especially in the colloquial usage of the word, covers a lot areas that have things in common, but there are lots of things those areas don't have in common. Software engineering /= all of engineering anymore than mechanical engineering represents all of engineering.

toast76 15y ago
Fortunately, like a good interface, it is immediately and clearly obvious what the function of the article is. I think it's safe to say that any mechanical engineers that may have read this article were smart enough to realise that the target audience wasn't them.
- sliverstorm 15y ago
  True; your parent is just reacting to the pervasive habit software engineers seem to have, wherein they refer to themselves as if they are the only kind of engineers.
  - sciurus 15y ago
    Which is particularly annoying if you think software developers shouldn't be called engineers.
- Anechoic 15y ago
  >it is immediately and clearly obvious what the function of the article is. Not really - I am a mechanical engineer (by degree, acoustical by practice) who took the title at it's word and tried to see if author was trying to share an insight that could be applied to engineering in general. "Line things up" and "Design the white space" is something I could see an author trying to apply across disciplines (not that they did, but again, I was taking the title for what it was and tried to get something out of it). It's when I got to "Use designer fonts" that I realized it was yet another article where the author used the term 'engineer" to refer to "software engineer."
Benjo 15y ago
You could just as easily say it should be "Software Design Secrets for Engineers" right?
nl 15y ago
I hate to be that guy Then don't be. It's posted on HN - the context makes it pretty obvious. If a computer could trivially work out it was likely to be about software engineering using Bayesian reasoning ("engineer" in title AND posted on HN) then a person should be able to as well.
- Anechoic 15y ago
  >It's posted on HN - the context makes it pretty obvious. I've read (and commented on) all kinds of front-page articles of interest to non-software hackers & engineers, including articles on the economy, construction projects, healthcare, education, transportation, and other issues: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918950 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918950 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2881546 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2881546 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2871117 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2871117 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2498109 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2498109 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2477475 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2477475 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2276033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2276033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2240603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2240603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2176868 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2176868 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2108564 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2108564 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2086873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2086873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2029281 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2029281 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1973985 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1973985 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1434017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1434017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1423352 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1423352 etc. I'm not aware that this is a forum that caters to software-only topics. Please enlighten me if I am mistaken. I'm certainly not a software guy and yet HN is one of my go-to sites because I am a hacker.
- aaronblohowiak 15y ago
  Bayesian reasoning is actually "given the Prior X, what is the likelihood that Y is true" ? What you are referring to is the far more simplistic Boolean reasoning.
enneff 15y ago
It should really be "Visual design secrets for software engineers." It's kinda irksome how graphic designers try to own the word "design." Design is a vital part of all engineering, software or otherwise.
- iaskwhy 15y ago
  This feels like it could go on and on. These are not secrets either. And this is not for all software engineers, just for those who need to design web pages.
TeMPOraL 15y ago
> I hate to be that guy (...) Still, it's good you are. It's not a discussion board, people talking about tangential issues are (IMO) one of the best things you can see on HN. Also, I tend to think that 'software engineering' is the least engineering-like of all engineering disciplines.

toast76 15y ago

Fortunately, like a good interface, it is immediately and clearly obvious what the function of the article is. I think it's safe to say that any mechanical engineers that may have read this article were smart enough to realise that the target audience wasn't them.

sliverstorm 15y ago
True; your parent is just reacting to the pervasive habit software engineers seem to have, wherein they refer to themselves as if they are the only kind of engineers.
- sciurus 15y ago
  Which is particularly annoying if you think software developers shouldn't be called engineers.
Anechoic 15y ago
>it is immediately and clearly obvious what the function of the article is. Not really - I am a mechanical engineer (by degree, acoustical by practice) who took the title at it's word and tried to see if author was trying to share an insight that could be applied to engineering in general. "Line things up" and "Design the white space" is something I could see an author trying to apply across disciplines (not that they did, but again, I was taking the title for what it was and tried to get something out of it). It's when I got to "Use designer fonts" that I realized it was yet another article where the author used the term 'engineer" to refer to "software engineer."

Benjo 15y ago

You could just as easily say it should be "Software Design Secrets for Engineers" right?

nl 15y ago

I hate to be that guy Then don't be. It's posted on HN - the context makes it pretty obvious. If a computer could trivially work out it was likely to be about software engineering using Bayesian reasoning ("engineer" in title AND posted on HN) then a person should be able to as well.

Anechoic 15y ago
>It's posted on HN - the context makes it pretty obvious. I've read (and commented on) all kinds of front-page articles of interest to non-software hackers & engineers, including articles on the economy, construction projects, healthcare, education, transportation, and other issues: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918950 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2918950 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2881546 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2881546 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2871117 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2871117 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2498109 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2498109 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2477475 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2477475 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2276033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2276033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2240603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2240603 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2176868 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2176868 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2108564 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2108564 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2086873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2086873 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2029281 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2029281 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1973985 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1973985 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1434017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1434017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1423352 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1423352 etc. I'm not aware that this is a forum that caters to software-only topics. Please enlighten me if I am mistaken. I'm certainly not a software guy and yet HN is one of my go-to sites because I am a hacker.
aaronblohowiak 15y ago
Bayesian reasoning is actually "given the Prior X, what is the likelihood that Y is true" ? What you are referring to is the far more simplistic Boolean reasoning.

enneff 15y ago

It should really be "Visual design secrets for software engineers." It's kinda irksome how graphic designers try to own the word "design." Design is a vital part of all engineering, software or otherwise.

iaskwhy 15y ago
This feels like it could go on and on. These are not secrets either. And this is not for all software engineers, just for those who need to design web pages.

TeMPOraL 15y ago

> I hate to be that guy (...) Still, it's good you are. It's not a discussion board, people talking about tangential issues are (IMO) one of the best things you can see on HN. Also, I tend to think that 'software engineering' is the least engineering-like of all engineering disciplines.