[mellifluousmind]

As someone with programming background, I actually wish there are more stories on the opposite direction (programmer who gets kickass awesome in UI design (HTML + CSS)).

I think that the complexity of CSS compatibility (what browser supports what not... even there are minor quirks between Firefox & Chrome, not just IE.. don't get me started on IE7 & 8 either), it is very easy to raise a white flag and say "that is it..I am going back to deal with backend only tasks, nothing that consumer will see on the surface).

Perhaps, OP already has a knack for UI design (as he/she mentioned in the post that he/she is a UI designer by trade before Ruby), so kudos for getting a nice grip on Rails. As for me, I wish I can master the UI design etc.

[randomdata]

I sort of built my skills in unison (had an interest in both programming and design since I was a kid), but my career has tended towards the development side, so I guess you could say that I am a programmer by trade that picked up design on the side. Whether or not I am "kickass" is subjective, but people seem generally happy with my work.

The biggest challenge I find is that people do not take designer programmers seriously. Those who do just enough programming to support their interfaces seem to be respected, but as soon as I dive in writing some low level component in C, as an example, my design skills are immediately discounted, it seems.

Programming is design, in my opinion. The way you structure your code, getting the indents and spacings just right to be pleasing to the eye, are the exact same skills you need when you're shifting pixels in photoshop. Thinking about how the next programmer will interpret the meaning of your code is the same skill you need when thinking about how a user will use your interface. I feel the only thing limiting a programmer from becoming a good designer is practice.

[kaylarose]

I have the opposite background, but similar anecdotes. Spent all of high school and college in various art or design-focused curriculum and degrees. Inevitably ended up taking a few dev courses, but was only marginally interested. My first job after college was as a web designer in a software shop where I quickly realized that "real-world" programming mixed aesthetics and creativity with logic and really hard problems, was immediately hooked and started absorbing everything (even SICP!) in my quest to become a better developer.

Like yours, my left-brain intuitively sees patterns and (un)readabilty in code, beauty in simplicity, and has empathy for users/novices. My right-brain solves the problems, connects the top to the bottom, and is cold-and-calculating about the inner-workings.

It's also my experience, that if you are design-forward people discount your programming skills (all the more reason to prove them wrong) and if you are development-forward people discount your creative side ("oh, I _totally_ trust your opinion, but just to be on the safe side....").

IMHO Diversity of skills gives you insight into your work and the world around you. Even if you are not a natural you still gain new perspective. Hell, even knowing that you aren't any good is half the battle! I am good at _executing_ other people's ideas, and intuitively knowing what looks good - but struggle coming up with an original _truly unique_ artwork from scratch. On the other hand, Give me an empty vim buffer...

[philwelch]

Programmers also don't have to worry about things like e.g. choosing colors. Which is something I, for one, feel pretty hopeless at.

[citricsquid]

CSS and HTML and compatibility has nothing to do with UI design. Someone who does CSS and HTML would be a "frontend developer", a "ui designer" is someone who designs. The roles can be combined, but if you were to say "I am a UI Designer" that wouldn't mean you deal with CSS and HTML.

[bluetshirt]

Arguably, until traditional software developers are able to grok these distinctions, you're not going to see many of them "crossing over" to design work.

[james-fend]

Do you think it's a left brain, right brain sort of thing? I mean what controls someone's ability to draw better than others?

I've noticed usually the better someone can draw on paper, their web design reflects the same.

[mellifluousmind]

I think it has a lot more to do with memorization of all the little quirks on what works on what browser and what doesn't.

With languages like C#/Ruby/PHP/JavaScript, I find that I can soak up that knowledge better than HTML/CSS, because I find it consistent and organized (...not too sure about PHP's quirky API naming conventions). For CSS, it just seems like there is a myriad of tricks you gain through out the years, and I guess it just takes more effort to get good at it.

[danneu]

Exactly. Programming is logical. Styling isn't. Knowing that `margin: 0 auto;` centers elements in CSS isn't a left-brain, right-brain thing. It's just something unintuitive that you accept until you stumble upon the New Way of doing it.