I posted this not because I thought it would be inflammatory, but because I very much agreed with the point that design is not as far “to the left” as it should be
I started out as an animator/designer, and then became a developer. I became a developer because I wanted to write plugins for the 3D modelling software I used. Over the decades I have become extremely jaded at how companies I have worked for organise into “UX Design” and “Development” teams. It is utter nonsense
Everyone I have worked with, once trained, is capable of doing both — perhaps not everyone tackles design or development with the same passion, but teams who have comfort with both areas of app/web design and development often produce superior products
Now I am in a position to build a team at a company that is divided into “UX” and “Development.” I hope to ask people on the design team to install Xcode and Android Studio, to get comfortable making quick prototypes in Compose and SwiftUI, to update asset catalogues and colours, and to make branches and commit changes. Designers are genuinely excited about this
Similarly, I have started giving developers edit access to Figma, helping them produce design and visually communicate on a Figma board, tweak and suggest designs, and even build parts that can be approved by people on the “design team.” Developers have no problem doing this
I am hoping that the lines between “designer” and “developer” dissolve and we simply have coordinated teams, with talented people able to direct the vision for both aspects of a product
In my personal side projects everyone is treated as both designer and developer, no one “blindly implements” design (which I have experienced at many large companies) and no one creates design without understanding the nuances of the platform. This results in much less back-and-forth, and products that ship with more consistent UI design
I started out as an animator/designer, and then became a developer. I became a developer because I wanted to write plugins for the 3D modelling software I used. Over the decades I have become extremely jaded at how companies I have worked for organise into “UX Design” and “Development” teams. It is utter nonsense
Everyone I have worked with, once trained, is capable of doing both — perhaps not everyone tackles design or development with the same passion, but teams who have comfort with both areas of app/web design and development often produce superior products
Now I am in a position to build a team at a company that is divided into “UX” and “Development.” I hope to ask people on the design team to install Xcode and Android Studio, to get comfortable making quick prototypes in Compose and SwiftUI, to update asset catalogues and colours, and to make branches and commit changes. Designers are genuinely excited about this
Similarly, I have started giving developers edit access to Figma, helping them produce design and visually communicate on a Figma board, tweak and suggest designs, and even build parts that can be approved by people on the “design team.” Developers have no problem doing this
I am hoping that the lines between “designer” and “developer” dissolve and we simply have coordinated teams, with talented people able to direct the vision for both aspects of a product
In my personal side projects everyone is treated as both designer and developer, no one “blindly implements” design (which I have experienced at many large companies) and no one creates design without understanding the nuances of the platform. This results in much less back-and-forth, and products that ship with more consistent UI design