Developers and designers: Why can't we get along well?

As long as visual programming is involved,ProgrammerThere will be conflicts with designers. When talking aboutProgramThe two sides may disagree during development, even though we all know that when creating a valid application, both team members are important. Designers will always be disappointed when they see that the original design version is different from the final version, while programmers complain that it is a designer design problem (a little tricky )!

Many conflicts originate from a lack of understanding between the two, which is also the cause of disagreement between designers and programmers. For the sake of peace between the two, This article summarizes some lessons learned, as a designer/programmer may wish to learn, know yourself and know each other, in order to win a hundred battles.

The designer said: we are not intentionally embarrassed.

We strive to do a good job, and we are not intentionally embarrassed.

Designers need to maintain developers' reputation. In your opinion, we prefer formal functions, but this is not the case. Designers try to make the most appropriate functions so that these functions can be used.

More and more designers are focusing on user-experience rather than graphic design. Understanding user requirements before design is very important for designers. Sometimes we try to add some beautiful images and hope that users can have a better user experience.

Programmers say: we don't want to be embarrassed.

When we writeCodeThe completion of the project is only part of the process, and the application will change over time. What we need to do is to ensure that these changes can be easily changed. We need to write code to test the automated testing framework. When a programmer requests to modify a product from a designer, whether in HTML format, file name, or directory structure, everything is done to ensure better flexibility for future testing of the product.

Don't worry, we won't require too much flexibility. The flexibility of creation is very precious, and we understand the design that "yagni" can end with (in short, this principle is to consider and design only the necessary functions to avoid over-design ). We try to avoid this situation.

The designer said: Form Issues Affect Functions

The form does not follow the function, and the form can assign function features. Programmers can design certain functions that you can easily obtain. If we want users to click a button or execute an action, graphics and layout can help users know or guess how to get the results they want.

Experience tells us to design a specific method, especially for online applications. Even if a simple design involves buttons, forms, or photo options, we use a wise decision-making method when making a choice. You can use location, color, and visual display to tell the designer that someone is participating in the interaction, provided that you create an interactive environment.

For example, the world's leading brand navigation is the screen of the Porsche layered navigation. Simple and well-designed structure features make users feel happy!

Programmers say: naming

Many different components need to be followed up when building an application. In addition to web pages, images,Source codeFiles, database lists, columns, and many other components need to be managed. Consistent naming is our top priority.

When a designer uploads a file in the file system GUI, if the file name is submitbutton.gif or submit-button.gif, the two may not be distinguished. From the database field to the file name to the CSS class, almost all of us adopt standard naming. This indicates that the encoding department has standards or they have followed unwritten rules. consistent naming makes work easier.

We aim to make naming more descriptive and predictable. Similar naming items are obviously an important part of a naming process. Else is different.

The designer said: rules help us understand

We can learn rules, but this only helps us understand. Rules can be followed or not. Developers sometimes discuss with usProgramming LanguageBut we don't understand it, just as designers sometimes talk about development and you cannot understand it. Once designers and developers can understand it, the biggest benefit is the user.

The example of using File naming is just to tell us what standards should be followed. I can assure you that if we know that this is the correct method, we will name it in a group chart or in lowercase letters. We are happy to do so.

Designers do not resist in nature, because they like programmers very much in most cases. We like to do what we want, and no one tells us how to do it. We belong to Lotte.

Designers know that they do not need to follow the rules and regulations during training, but they need to create new ideas, but this does not mean that they are difficult for developers to work. Once a designer follows the rules, she can put innovation above the rules without making functions more difficult. They will argue whether images can be used properly.

Once we have a platform or framework such as WordPress, we can design it in a known place, where it makes more sense (background images, patterns, colors), where it makes no sense (navigation, embedded in rare fonts, graphic navigation ). Finding a unique or wise solution to design problems can give designers better performance.

Programmers say: What kind of work on the desktop cannot be run on the Web

Creating a beautiful web page is just the beginning of this work. When it is pushed to the Wen server, this requires that the effect is perfect.

The differences between file names on Windows desktops are not very important, but when published to a Linux Web server, greenbutton.gif and greenbutton.gif are different. Users, programmers, or testers will see 404. I prefer lower-case file names. If possible, I will use hyphens to differentiate them.

First, make sure to access all links and documents to ensure that the tasks on the desktop can work well. Whether the page is damaged or the CSS file cannot be loaded or the error link causes the designed page to be difficult to run, this situation may occur:

1	<IMG SRC="File: // C/users/DESIGNER/assets/green-button.gif">

You may not noticeBrowserImage loading time. If you use a pretty, full-color image as a banner image, or even occupy most of the page, the loading time is very slow. Many browser plug-ins lead to page widening, so please use it with caution.

The designer said: graphics are just a support mechanism.

Designers understand the graphic support mechanism, which is not the most important element in applications. Determine whether to use images as needed. If your information needs to be decorated and not placed at the top of the list, why not?

For "art", some designers feel that they are most important in doing these jobs, and others are secondary. Compared with "designers", they prefer to be called "artists ". When a designer works with a programmer, she wants to become a member of the team, because they end up for users. The difference is that designers can arrange their own work sets to develop high-quality experiences. This is what programmers expect, but programmers cannot arrange themselves.

The programmer said: Do not repeat yourself in the dry principle.

The biggest factor in system maintenance is the number of duplicates. We do not need to write code to calculate the sales tax in five places. Write code in the same place. A function called calculate_sales_tax () can be used five times. If you need to modify the code, you only need to change a function, which can save time.

In the designer's country, CSS is the biggest example of the dry principle. Before CSS, the tag displayed in HTML is as follows:

1	<P> <Font Face="Arial" Size="1"> <B> This is a headline </B> </Font> </P>

CSS style:

1	<P class = "headline"> This is a headline </P>

If you use CSS, you must follow the dry principle.

Designers can use dry to reduce complexity for programmers. If you want to use an image in two different places, you only need to put it in the same directory, and each page can be used.

The designer said alignment and spacing are really important.

Alignment and spacing are important. This is the most common problem for developers to create alignment and spacing during design. Of course, the default layout is also allowed.

Alignment and spacing are mainly used to ensure that end users can easily execute functions and make the process more intuitive. If users can easily find what they want and complete this task, it means you have succeeded. If on the contrary, you still have a lot to do in interactive applications.

Yahoo! Home Page

Mailchimp Homepage

You can compare the homepage of Yahoo and mailchimp.com or fab.com.

The content on one page is complete, while the other two are blank and alignment. Therefore, you can easily obtain the desired information. Of course these two websites have different types of audiences, but you can tell fab.com and mailchimp.comWebsite DesignInformation of interest to the user.

Programmers say: learn how to use a version control system

In modern software development, Version Control Systems (VCS) such as git or subversion are essential tools. If you are not using the two, you are not a qualified programmer. A VCs has two major benefits for designers: Change Management and history tracking.

Conclusion:

Of course, there are still many ways for designers and programmers to learn from each other. No matter which party you are, we hope to think about the project. As we said, neither party wants the other side to suffer. In terms of project cooperation, we all pay attention to quality issues and hope the project can do better. The two often discuss projects together. You will find that you have learned a lot from each other and your team will become more powerful.

From: smartbear