Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Dakota Berg

Growing up, I never would have expected that I would be interested in coding websites. I found design in middle school and knew it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. At a minimum, I knew some form of design would play an important role in anything I did. However, my journey into the depths of coding was much different.

I came across web development during my time as an undergrad at Eastern Washington University while studying web design. After a couple of coding classes, I became a Teachers Assistant to help other students take their first dive into coding. I felt the same struggles most of them did just a couple of quarters before, so I could easily relate and help them through. I knew that if I could just help get them over a few more common hurdles, they would likely see the value that web development could provide them as designers.

I don’t think every designer needs to know how to code, but I struggle to see how it could hurt a designer to understand how it works. I also don’t think every designer that knows how to code needs to be actively coding. They need to stay up on industry trends, but generally you are hiring a designer to design, not to develop.

Set expectations early so the design doesn’t have to change later.

1) Realistic Expectations

As a designer, knowing how designs are going to be built on a technical level is important to avoiding costly hiccups during the development process. Some aspects of the design can be easy with your web design software of choice, but then implementing them onto a fully responsive website can prove to be more time consuming than it’s worth. Knowing this before designing that complex animated checkbox that is 3 pages deep on a hidden modal is extremely beneficial when development costs and timelines are important. Don’t design just to design. That’s the takeaway that designers understand when they have been on the coding side of their designs.

Don’t design just to design.

Every design decision affects development.

2) Insight

I don’t think it’s the fact that a designer can code that’s important, but it’s the insight that comes along with that. The designer has the insight to make design decisions based on their own personal understanding of what’s needed to develop the design into a working product. Developers face all kinds of unforeseen obstacles along the way and it’s probably not a good idea to make their job even harder. It’s the small design decisions that can have a big impact on development times, which means that a designer who can design smarter can save time and money for you in the long run. That’s cool, right?

Communicate designs like a boss.

3) Communication

Any designer that has ever handed off designs to a developer understands that there can be a communication barrier. One person is using the term “padding” while the other uses “white space”, the developer calls it “line height” while the designer calls it “leading”. Not only does knowing how to develop a website help a designer know the terminology, but they also gain the ability to more clearly communicate their vision to the developer. The designer that can code is empowered to build a “quick and dirty” prototype of the feature so the developer can see the idea that the designer wants. Be careful though, once someone knows how to do another person’s job, it makes it much easier to step on toes. The takeaway for designers is to utilize your knowledge to make you better at your job, not to do others’ jobs for them.

What’s up with those keys on the left?

4) Problem Solving

Coding is essentially just a bunch of complex problems that need to be solved. Developing a website and fixing bugs takes critical thinking, research, determination and focus, among other things. Web Designers that can code have proven they have the ability to solve complex problems within the restraints of web browsers, so when paired with an eye for design… that’s the designer you want. Some of the best technical breakthroughs are accomplished when a talented designer and developer are able to work together to find a solution.

About the author

Dakota is an entrepreneur & designer from the Pacific Northwest. Founder of DKTB Design, Partner at Black Hatchet & Lead Designer at SportsCastr.

4 Reasons You Should Hire A Web Designer That Can Code was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

4 Reasons You Should Hire A Web Designer That Can Code

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