[ev9]

This post is about the difference between art and design.

Artists make art because there is something they want to display to the world for their own reasons, irrespective of the desires of the world. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Great art is impactful to humans beyond the artist.

Design, on the other hand, is about influencing people first and foremost, and causing to take action in some way (could be a protest, or buying something, or simply clicking a button). Because of this, a designer strives to offer "the best", because that causes maximal impact.

I wish the writer great success in his art!

[JohnFen]

Then what do I do?

I make software to help people solve a problem. It's not meant to be an art piece on display, and it's also not intending to influence them in any way. It's just meant to help them accomplish a task they were already doing, preferably without altering the way they do it.

I guess I do neither art nor design, but engineering.

[Towaway69]

Helping people with software can be very satisfying, especially if there is an immediate positive interaction with those people.

Art can be a lonely business especially if no one understands what you are trying to express.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

[marcosdumay]

> It's just meant to help them accomplish a task they were already doing

That is influencing the world.

[JohnFen]

But a different sort of influencing. I'm not trying to make anyone take a particular action.