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John Maeda: If You Want to Survive in Design, You Better Learn to Code(wired.com)

over 6 years ago from Benjamin Valmont, Designer

  • Tyler Cecchi, over 6 years ago

    I believe what John Maeda is saying is that writing code is a primary design skill, not a complimentary one.

    The idea is that more and more digital products, many with no visual interface, are designed with code.

    It's not saying that writing code will help you design better; it's saying that in an increasing many instances, writing code is design.

    7 points
    • Sean LesterSean Lester, over 6 years ago

      Writing code is not design.

      8 points
      • Tyler Cecchi, over 6 years ago

        What makes you say that?

        0 points
      • Jason MillerJason Miller, over 6 years ago

        Design is how things work. And code is what defines how things work.

        Of course, the designer doesn't need to be coding everything by hand. But we're responsible for communicating design intent to the people who write the code, and if we don't understand the processes and constraints that developers have to deal with, then communication breaks down and we design things that are difficult or impossible to build.

        0 points
        • Tyler Cecchi, over 6 years ago

          I agree, but I don't see how that invalidates writing code as design.

          If design is how products work, and code is what defines how products work, how is writing code not design?

          I don't buy that retro-fitting a 'classical' designer into an engineering mindset is the right way to design a product. I would have to think that it would be much easier and more efficient for engineers to adopt a product design mindset, seeing as they already use a ton design concepts when writing code.

          0 points
          • Jason MillerJason Miller, over 6 years ago

            You've got me backwards. I'm saying that writing code IS design.

            Or more accurately that code is the final expression of design, and so it's a design task to make sure that the design intent survives the development process.

            0 points
        • Sean LesterSean Lester, over 6 years ago

          I agree with this, and don't disagree with anyone who says that designers should learn SOME code — enough to understand how development works and what is possible, how to communicate design intention etc.

          I think, too, that good relationships and communication with developers in a collaborative effort will suffice, however. Developers appreciate being considered a meaningful part of the process and being collaborators, not just grunts who execute design.

          0 points
    • Simon Martin, over 6 years ago

      With all the recent advancements from Adobe (see here: https://www.fastcodesign.com/3068884/adobe-is-building-an-ai-to-automate-web-design-should-you-worry) to automate both the coding AND the design process to an extent, I think these primary design skills—while having the foundational knowledge to know why things do or do not work together—is on its way out the door. I mean, just look at what happened to photography? These days, auto crop and white balance tools can make an 8-year-old's photograph look like it was taken on a DSLR by a seasoned vet. That said, I think originality is going to be the next frontier. How can we work with automated processes and still stand out above the noise? I'm not saying I'm right by any means, but this is just where all the obvious arrows seem to be pointing.

      1 point