They say designing is like coding. Or maybe not. Each view has its fair share of detractors and supporters. Some argue that a designer should also know coding in order to take on some pretty complex tasks and to expand skillsets. Some say by doing it all, you risk doing everything sub-optimally.
So for today, we look at this issue – should a designer take up coding as well or are they better off with their primary focus on designing alone? We posed this question to industry professionals with coding and designing backgrounds.
First up we have Kevin Hannon, one of the designers-cum-coders whose input is valuable to get this conversation started:
My opinion… While it’s good to understand some code as a designer, it’s much better to have a guru coder and a guru designer team up. Push that one skill your good at into the realm of mastery and don’t dilute it by trying to learn too many things. I feel I can confidently say this after spending 20 years trying to learn to many things. I went back exclusively to design after realizing there were a lot more talented coders around me. But is good to know the basics so you can speak their language and avoid hurdles in your designs that would manifest as technical blockers later in the process.
A lot of interesting observations were made, which call for taking a more nuanced and balanced view on the coders-as-designers and vice versa debate. To code or not to code is the new Shakespearean lingo for the tech age. Some like Yanti Arifin present some sound technical reasons why coding plus designing skills can make perfect sense in the realm of UI/UX design:
If you get paid to do UI or UX design, you don’t have to code your own designs but you absolutely need to know enough code so you can think beyond the page and design a system. You also need to partner with developers who can think beyond code and understand the design thinking. Both sides learn from each other and become stronger at what they do. I used to be one of those designers who handed over pixel perfect mockups only to be disappointed by the build. Happened every single time. Now I use tools like codepen and sublime not to dictate the code but to better communicate the desired outcome in a way that makes sense to the developers. Plus knowing how to code plays a key role in reviewing and fixing the outcome of the build.
But if there was to be a reason why dedicated designers and dedicated coders need to be separate, Phai Dip’s insights would like to set the record straight once and for all:
As a designer/manager, I’ve just started to learn to code and think designers and coders/web developers should be different. Now that I learnt to code I can see why certain web layouts are not as visually appealing as it could be; as a designer, without knowing what the restrictions and difficulty in some web functions let you design the ideal website. Coders/developers will avoid these problem. The two should work together rather than being the same person.
So there you have it. The arguments for being a coder plus designer both and for going it alone when it comes to your trade and discipline. Both approaches have practical considerations behind them.
