Monday, September 14, 2009
Developer: "The worst part about designers is..."
"...that with a wave of their hand, they create hundreds of lines of code!"
The strategic design decisions that we make on a daily basis often have a significant effect on the amount of work that a developer needs to perform in order to realise the vision. On projects where the requirements and design are completed before development starts, the effect of this is obscured from the developer's view and expectations are more easily managed. However in more agile environments - where the design may be shifting while coding is happening - we need to be mindful that seemingly minor changes may have significant consequences. This can upset the delicate balance of power that is shared between designer and developer. Be aware of this and always act with humility and delicacy in such situations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
meh.
ReplyDeleteimho:
* good designers must know what can be implemented
* design, technic and concept should have a dialogue
* projects where requirements are defined without consultation of design and production are doomed from the beginning (ie if, they work out only because of the improvisation skills of design and technic)
Coding is just a means to an end. Design should always come first.
ReplyDeleteAnd by "design" I of course mean structure, not pretty visuals.
The customer / end-user is the only person who needs to be kept happy, and they only interact with the front-end design — they don't care a hoot about the code going on behind it.
If the design needs to change, then the coder should just suck it up and do whatever needs to be done to bring the altered design to life.
> "This can upset the delicate balance of power
ReplyDelete> that is shared between designer and developer"
WTF is THAT supposed to mean??? It's not about "power" and who has it! Jeezuz! Who gives a shite about who has to do what. They're different roles, but BOTH there to serves the client's needs.
Hmmm... and what about the developers who cock up designs because they want to keep the code lean?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment anonymous (11:44PM), but I have to side with Matt on this one. Saying coding is just a means to an end is like saying that engineering is just a means to an end if you are building a bridge. What can be done, what can most easily be done, what can be done in the time/budget available, and, yes, what the coders would most like to do are all factors in the designer's decision making process, even if we sometimes wish they were not.
ReplyDeleteShane
Every designer must know if his design is feasible on the capacity of his developer.
ReplyDeletesame old same old
ReplyDelete"same old same old" in a good way, or in a bad way?
ReplyDeleteShane