Ask HN: How to become a coder who can design?

[joddystreet]

It’s like - the designer who can code, but the other way around.

- What are the tools of trade? - Learning Resources, courses, blogs, people to know and follow - Roadmap - How long would it take to come to become a “junior designer “ (if that’s a thing)

[surprisetalk]

Good leaders thrive on charisma.

Good designers thrive on taste.

To develop taste, study the world. Become an explorer of elegance.

Build things. Watch people struggle with your designs. Listen to their feedback.

---

Sorry, enough poetry. Here are some links :)

• The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expand...

• Visual Display of Quantitative Information: https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Informati...

• 99% Invisible: https://99percentinvisible.org

[50]

> To develop taste, study the world.

well said for one should be able to discern, i.e., one gains a semblance after thousands upon thousands of impressions

> Sorry, enough poetry

don't apologize! poetry is quite analogous to design i find: some to tend to overlook the fact that poetry is not simply a literary form/genre but a manner of seeing the world [and a manner of being-in-the-world (an assemblage: a way of assembling one's life)]

aside from, say, starting an archive of design one finds noteworthy on something like https://www.are.na/, the following which are on my to-read list seem mighty seedful:

- Ways of Seeing: https://www.ways-of-seeing.com/

- Designing Design: https://www.lars-mueller-publishers.com/designing-design

- The Politics of Design: http://thepoliticsofdesign.com/about-the-book

[geekodour]

What would be the developer edition of this?

Good developers thrive on ?

[surprisetalk]

Good question. I'm not sure! My first reaction is "elegance", but I don't think that's quite right

[croo]

puzzles and bug hunts?

[gregjor]

No one can give an answer to your question, or any question of the form "How long will it take me to/how can I acquire a complex skill?"

Whether you can, and how long it might take, depends mainly on you and how much time and effort you can put into learning. Programming takes years to master, and design takes a long time too. Both will require considerable practice to get good at. You can start by reading what other people have done and studying their work, but that only gets you so far. Everyone who got good at programming or design put a lot of time and effort in, and they had mentors and colleagues along the way to help. Some people have an aptitude for programming and/or design, others struggle to ever get proficient, and only you know if you have the combination of aptitude, desire, time, focus, and energy to get where you want.

[lucasknight]

I've been a self taught designer for as long as I've been a self taught programmer.

Initially I started out building basic 2D games in GameMaker Studio which got me to start to draw pixel art (just basic stuff) so I'd say if you want to make a game maybe start out with that.

In my honest opinion I believe that design is quite mathematical and structure.

Definitely download Figma and do your best to learn the basics - it's an incredibly useful piece of software and on the internet there's plenty of challenges and resources that you'd be able to do to get the skills of Figma.

I remember I did a "30 days of design" challenge a little while ago which sent me an email every day with a concept to design. I'd try and find that and see if it's still up and running.

I wish you the very best with your endeavours! Welcome to the design community <3

[illwrks]

You need to clarify what you understand "design" to mean.

There is "design" which is to make something pretty and aligned to the latest trends. (Junk design IMO). You'll largely need some experience with design tools and frameworks to make things look good.

Then there is "design" which is more about the experience of something, how information is ordered and how usable something is for your customers. This is one hundred times more valuable and you probably need more usability, user experience and "design thinking" experience. You likely don't need to learn any visual design tools but you can easily pick apart your application and understand "what does the user need to do now".

[aigoochamna]

What I did was talk to the designers I worked with. I got to know their tools. I even did some 1:1 sessions with them after work learning design basics. I taught them some coding, they taught me design.

[level87]

I was a designer before learning to code, honestly much like coding, your best bet is to practice; follow some tutorials to get used to the programs, but ultimately creating something you care about will help you improve.

There are no half measures or a specific road-map, there are certain things you need technically but being a creative field you need to find your own way, just got to work at it.

[dmbche]

Hi! I've been very impressed by 99% invisible, a well produced and researched podcast about design in everyday things.

I think it's very important to be aware of ingenious design examples in other fields - kind of a "jack of all trades is better than a master of one" type of thing.