Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Developers Can't Design
Search
Jen Myers
January 13, 2012
Programming
13
1.6k
Developers Can't Design
(And Other Completely Untrue Design Myths)
Jen Myers
January 13, 2012
Tweet
Share
More Decks by Jen Myers
See All by Jen Myers
Listen to Your (and All) Mothers
jenmyers
0
180
Cartoon Creativity
jenmyers
0
240
How To Not Be an Expert
jenmyers
1
280
How to Start Coding from Any Level
jenmyers
0
260
Shepherding Unicorns
jenmyers
2
310
Owning It
jenmyers
0
310
Developers Can't Design (2013)
jenmyers
6
500
How to Not Be an Expert
jenmyers
8
590
Redesigning the Interface
jenmyers
4
850
Other Decks in Programming
See All in Programming
React 19でつくる「気持ちいいUI」- 楽観的UIのすすめ
himorishige
11
7.4k
15年続くIoTサービスのSREエンジニアが挑む分散トレーシング導入
melonps
2
200
AIによる高速開発をどう制御するか? ガードレール設置で開発速度と品質を両立させたチームの事例
tonkotsuboy_com
7
2.3k
AI Agent の開発と運用を支える Durable Execution #AgentsInProd
izumin5210
7
2.3k
Data-Centric Kaggle
isax1015
2
770
AIで開発はどれくらい加速したのか?AIエージェントによるコード生成を、現場の評価と研究開発の評価の両面からdeep diveしてみる
daisuketakeda
1
2.5k
AI時代の認知負荷との向き合い方
optfit
0
160
FOSDEM 2026: STUNMESH-go: Building P2P WireGuard Mesh Without Self-Hosted Infrastructure
tjjh89017
0
170
AI & Enginnering
codelynx
0
110
CSC307 Lecture 03
javiergs
PRO
1
490
フルサイクルエンジニアリングをAI Agentで全自動化したい 〜構想と現在地〜
kamina_zzz
0
400
2026年 エンジニアリング自己学習法
yumechi
0
130
Featured
See All Featured
A Tale of Four Properties
chriscoyier
162
24k
Balancing Empowerment & Direction
lara
5
890
技術選定の審美眼(2025年版) / Understanding the Spiral of Technologies 2025 edition
twada
PRO
117
110k
Marketing Yourself as an Engineer | Alaka | Gurzu
gurzu
0
130
Building an army of robots
kneath
306
46k
Easily Structure & Communicate Ideas using Wireframe
afnizarnur
194
17k
A brief & incomplete history of UX Design for the World Wide Web: 1989–2019
jct
1
300
The Art of Delivering Value - GDevCon NA Keynote
reverentgeek
16
1.8k
Tips & Tricks on How to Get Your First Job In Tech
honzajavorek
0
430
Fantastic passwords and where to find them - at NoRuKo
philnash
52
3.6k
Imperfection Machines: The Place of Print at Facebook
scottboms
269
14k
What's in a price? How to price your products and services
michaelherold
247
13k
Transcript
DEVELOPERS CAN’T DESIGN AND OTHER COMPLETELY UNTRUE DESIGN MYTHS JEN
MYERS • @ANTIHEROINE • SCOTTISH RUBY CONFERENCE, 30 JUNE 2012
What is design?
“Design is the appropriate combination of materials in order to
solve a problem.” - CHARLES EAMES
“Design is thinking made visual.” - SAUL BASS
“Design is the method of putting form and content together.
Design, just as art, has multiple definitions, there is no single definition.... Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - PAUL RAND
What is design? Graphic design Industrial design Interaction design Experience
design Web/interface design
Why should developers care?
Design is teachable. Design is communication.
DESIGN IS DECORATION DESIGN MYTH #1
“It’s not just what it looks like and feels like.
Design is how it works.” - STEVE JOBS
How design works Structure Content Organization Message Functionality
How design works Wireframes Palettes Mood boards Copy Data flows
User testing
DESIGN IS SUBJECTIVE DESIGN MYTH #2
“Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem
solving, not about personal or unsupported opinion.” - BOB BAXLEY
Basic design principles Balance Repetition Proximity Emphasis Unity
BALANCE SYMMETRICAL
BALANCE ASYMMETRICAL
REPETITION COLOR, FONT, SHAPE, LOGO
REPETITION COLOR, FONT, SHAPE, LOGO
EMPHASIS VISUAL DOMINANCE & HIERARCHY
PROXIMITY GROUPING LIKE ELEMENTS
UNITY COHERENCE OF LOOK, FEEL & MESSAGE
Related design concepts Positive/negative space Contrast Typography Color theory Ratios
DESIGN IS SEPARATE FROM DEVELOPMENT DESIGN MYTH #3
“The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather
than each other.” - THOMAS STALLKAMP
No silos Communication Community Design & Dev 4eva Project integration
should code. Designers ...
Jen Myers Relevance
[email protected]
@antiheroine SLIDES: speakerdeck.com/u/jenmyers/p/developers-cant-design