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As I consider myself to be both a designer and a developer, I'd like to agree that it's possible to achieve some amount of mastery in both. :) In practice, how

As I consider myself to be both a designer and a developer, I'd like to agree that it's possible to achieve some amount of mastery in both. :) In practice, however, I've noticed 3 things: 1. You're best at what you do, so if you want to do both, find time for both. 2. Most managers I've worked with take design for granted and will think of you as a programmer if you can code, or a designer if you can't. 3. You can't do both at peak potential at the same time -- there's a designer mindset and a developer mindset. Actually this reminds me of DevOps as well, which I've gotten into recently. I'd also point to positions like "Software Developer in Test" as another example of this interdisciplinary work. Actually I'd probably try to poke fingers at anybody saying that IT is specialized (as in the comments here) since if anything, IT is also more generalized than ever before, given how many different ways there are to solve problems and how varied technology is today, in use.

ritchiea 14y ago
There is definitely a unique mindset to each role and it can be a tremendous challenge to switch between the two productively at work.
Detrus 14y ago
Yes the mindset switch is a big barrier. The only way people will do both at the same time on a large scale is if you automate large parts of both professions, to the point where the job is just picking answers in web/app building wizards.
andyhmltn 14y ago
That's a great point. I'm both a designer and a developer (although I prefer development.) I find switching between the two isn't just as easy as opening up photoshop. When you get into a swing with developing something really good, nobody can stop you. To just drop that and then try and get into the same mindset with design is hard. I usually dedicated days to each specific subject instead of switching constantly.

ritchiea 14y ago

There is definitely a unique mindset to each role and it can be a tremendous challenge to switch between the two productively at work.

Detrus 14y ago

Yes the mindset switch is a big barrier. The only way people will do both at the same time on a large scale is if you automate large parts of both professions, to the point where the job is just picking answers in web/app building wizards.

andyhmltn 14y ago

That's a great point. I'm both a designer and a developer (although I prefer development.) I find switching between the two isn't just as easy as opening up photoshop. When you get into a swing with developing something really good, nobody can stop you. To just drop that and then try and get into the same mindset with design is hard. I usually dedicated days to each specific subject instead of switching constantly.