SXSW 2011 PanelPicker - No Excuse: Web Designers Who Can't Code

In a recent interview, Jonathan Ive said “It’s very hard to learn about materials academically, by reading about them or watching videos about them; the only way you truly understand a material is by making things with it.” He’s talking about product design, but the principle is just as relevant to the Web (if not more so). “The best design explicitly acknowledges that you cannot disconnect the form from the material—the material informs the form…. Because when an object’s materials, the materials’ processes and the form are all perfectly aligned…. People recognize that object as authentic and real in a very particular way.” As our industry grows and roles get more specialized, it’s possible to become a “web designer” without more than a cursory understanding of the fundamental building materials of the Web: the code. Is this just the price of progress? Are the days of the web craftsman soon to be in the past? Or is a hybrid approach to web design and development something worth preserve?

my perspective on “south by” and if i’ll ever actually go aside, this panel rings true to me. not because i design for the web or code for the web. sure, i’ve done both and both together but it’s not my formal profession. it’d take many more years of practice and application to get to that point.

however, the road that’s taken me to where i am now started with both coding & designing for the web. learning absolute building blocks of something, today, that’s so much more to so many people. part of my job is understanding attention and helping people find what they’re looking for. on the surface, “academically,” it seems relatively simple. you tweet? you’re on facebook? you can read a web page? SIGN HERE. but that’s half the story, i think. you’re attacking a problem from the outside - in, instead of of the inside - out. does this mean i’m smarter than someone who doesn’t have a history of code & design for the web? no. does it mean i can do my job better? no. does it mean i have unique insight and perspective? yes.

that’s a huge point of difference. your final product, no matter what it is, will always reflect from where it came from.

what’s your starting point?