Designers vs. Coders

In an excerpt from the ebook Interaction Design Best Practices: Mastering the Tangibles by Jerry Cao, Kamil Zieba and Matt Ellis of UXPin, the question of coders versus designers is raised. In a perfect world, every business would be able to hire someone who has excessive, equal knowledge in coding and designing and would be able to take on both jobs without needing additional help, yet in reality, the best designers only know the basics of code and coders can only see the basics of design. Instead of trying to find a “unicorn,” coders and designers need to focus on communicating effectively and also have brief knowledge in the other’s content in order to know how to communicate what they want or need. They also state that empathy is a huge quality the coders and designers need to possess to be successful.

To create a diverse platform that will engage with users productively, a business needs a team of people, not just an individual. Cao, Zieba, and Ellis all believe the key to success is to not work alone and instead “specialists need to know what others are capable of, even if they don’t understand the precise techniques.” It is important to have strong knowledge in one's field, but in order for a team to prosper and work efficiently, they have to understand each members field to communicate. A strain in communication only leads to upset businesses and disappointed or frustrated viewers which creates the war of designers versus coders. Businesses and companies need to take time to create a cohesive staff that is able to work together to produce quality work. Without this effort, there will be a war between the two fields that will result in unusable content.

To help with this quick divide of talent between coders and designers, a top trait Cao, Zieba, and Ellis look for when hiring is empathy and humility. They state that “designers need to relate to both their clients and the rest of their team to understand not just what they’re saying, but what they really mean. And that calls for a little humility.” This trait seems to be focused on designers only as they hold the vision of the project. A strong designer is able to communicate with her team because she/he understands their team. A simple understanding of tasks, traits, and skills can help to ease the divide between the two most important people on the team.

Designers and coders are essential to every creative team. Without the vision of the designer or the technology skills of the coder, webpages, interfaces, or new sources would never function, or at least be easily usable by consumers. This battle over who is more important and who has the best skills does not matter if they do not have the other to back up the vision or create the page. Instead of arguing over who is more beneficial, companies should focus on finding two people that match and empathetically understand the others field of work.

For Further Reading see: https://www.fastcompany.com/3050675/designers-should-design-coders-should-code