For a while during Design18 this was the top tweet:
Should designers know some code? Yes! Should devs know some design? Yes! There's knowing to do vs. Knowing to understand. If you want to understand each other you should share knowledge. #design18
— Ben Buchanan (@200okpublic) April 12, 2018
It seems to have struck a chord. So, this talk expands on what I meant.
The talk goes through things designers and devs should know about their counterparts; from the history and movements of their respective crafts (OO and FP are different, pop art and minimalism are different..) to specific tools and techniques they should know (eg. devs should know about colour theory, designers should know about versioning and release cycles).
Yes, designers should code. Yes, devs should design. No, neither one needs to do that to production quality unless they really want to go all-in (with a shout out to Diana McDonald... there is crossover here).
Bringing it together at the end I would be talking about how design and dev should be working together throughout the process; and the golden rule of collaborative knowledge - "learn about others as you'd have them learn about you".
Ben Buchanan started creating web pages in the nineties, while completing a degree in everything but I.T. He has created frontend systems throughout his career, for companies including News Ltd, Atlassian, Ansarada and Quantium. He probably thinks about markup too much. He can be found at @200okpublic and writes at the 200ok weblog.
Tickets start at $1295, for two in-depth days with the world's leading product, design and engineering experts.
Two big tracks, one Product/Design, one Developer focused, plus stellar keynotes and much more.
For over a decade, we've worked hard to create inclusive, fun, inspring and safe events for the Web Industry.
As part of our commitment to these values, we've adopted a code of conduct for all involved: ourselves, our speakers, our partners and our audience.
If you have any concern or feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us.