It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. — Eleanor Roosevelt
David Heinemeier Hansson has written an interesting post about the current state of web design and how designers ought to be able to still work on the code side of things:
… Read articleWe build using server-side rendering, Turbolinks, and Stimulus. All tools that are approachable and realistic for designers to adopt, since the major focus is just on HTML and CSS, with a few sprinkles of JavaScript for interactivity.
And it’s not like it’s some well kept secret! In fact, every
We recently covered this exact same thing, but from the perspective of a bunch of developers.
Chris Ferdinandi weighs in:
The least important skills for a front-end developer to have are technical ones.
The nuances of JavaScript. How to use a particular library, framework, or build tool. How the cascade in CSS works. Semantic HTML. Fizz-buzz.
Chris takes that a little farther than I would. I do think that with an understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the … Read article
Or: When all you have is a CSS hammer, the world looks like a CSS nail.
Whenever I hear a perfectly nice comment like, "Yeah, representing the tech field!" in response to my pure-CSS art, I get a sharp feeling of panic.
Like many people who work on UIs for a living, I have difficulty applying the "tech" term to myself without feeling like a fraud. Impostor syndrome is a hard thing to shake. A front-end specialist? Oh, you … Read article
Job titles is a regular topic around here. Occasionally heated, as job titles play a role in the hiring process (why are you asking me React questions for this UX design position role?). And complicated by the fact that there is no agreed-upon standards and the loads of people and companies who don't take them seriously (we just want people who do a good job, make your title whatever you want it to be). Complicated again … Read article
Hey there! It's Lara, author of the infamous"Tales of a Non-Unicorn: A Story About the Trouble with Job Titles and Descriptions" from a couple years back. If you haven't read that original article, I recommend skimming it to give you some context for this one, but I think you'll still find value here even if you don't.
A lot has happened since I wrote that article in 2015, and this follow-up has been in the works for a good … Read article
Last week on ShopTalk, Dave and I spoke with Mandy Michael and Lara Schenck. Mandy had just written the intentionally provocative "Is there any value in people who cannot write JavaScript?" which guided our conversation. Lara is deeply interested in this subject as well, as someone who is a job seeking web worker, but places herself on the spectrum as a non-unicorn. … Read article
Brad Frost:
… Read articleA front-end designer ... lives in a sort of purgatory between worlds:
- They understand UX principles and best practices, but may not spend their time conducting research, creating flows, and planning scenarios
- They have a keen eye for aesthetics, but may not spend their time pouring over font pairings, comparing color palettes, or creating illustrations and icons.
- They can write JavaScript, but may not spend their time writing application-level code, wiring up middleware, or debugging.
- They understand the
Hello, my name is Geoff and I am a web designer. At least, that's what I tell people I do for a living, because it's what most people understand.
The truth is, I am a front end developer. If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, then I don't even need to bother explaining that job title.
Or do I?… Read article
The following is a guest post by Lara Schenck. I heard her tell this story at a CodePen Meetup in New York. I saw an awful lot of nodding heads. It's a fact that there is some trouble in this industry with job titles, descriptions, interviewing, and that whole rigmarole. Check out this story from Lara, then follow her, as I'm sure this isn't the end of this discussion.… Read article
There are loads of job titles in our industry. The opinion on their usefulness range from harmful (i.e. leads to “not my job” syndrome) to vital (i.e. people change companies sometimes and need common language). Since they are out there and we use them, there should be some consistency to their definition. Perhaps we can get closer to nailing that down.
Let's light this fire, shall we? This is all debatable, of course.… Read article