Engineers Can’t Spell
but we can learn how!
Engineers can’t spell. They can’t be creative, have an eye for design, or show emotion. Engineers are socially awkward robots.
Or at least, this is what many people think about engineers.
While we were working on Turkle together, David said to me, “I love when the engineer in you comes out.” He says this a lot, and to his credit, the engineer in me comes out just as frequently.
See, at the time, we were making a tutorial for the app. In an attempt to be as clear as possible, I wrote out long, detailed, descriptive instructions. He said, “Nobody is going to read that. There’s too much text.”
He was right.
Am I the best designer in the world? No, not even remotely fucking close.
But does that mean that I can’t be creative, understand user interaction, and market my products? No, it doesn’t.
How can I get better? How can I learn best practices for design?
I’m surrounding myself with people who are good at those things, so that I might learn from them. I’m reading blogs and tutorials on design. I’m actually making apps as practice so that I will naturally improve at design (as well as iOS development).
Lets turn this on its head. Since my friends David and Gabe are so in touch with design, does that mean that they can’t be engineers? Does it mean they can’t learn to code, build interactive apps, and develop dynamic webpages? No, certainly not. In fact, Gabe has made multiple websites, designed a few apps, and redesigned FlockTag. David collaborated on Rendego, Hypster and Anchor (awaiting review on the App Store) after learning iOS.
Everybody has their specialty. Everybody has a background. Everybody has a skill set that they’re comfortable with. Thats not a limit, its not a cage. Its a foundation for you to build your skillset. Be a matchmaker for your interests and have some idea sex. You’ll be surprised what you’re capable of.
Although you may not be a programmer, or an engineer, you can be. And if you’re both, there is still so much more for you to learn.
No matter what discipline or industry you are coming from. Take the plunge. Learn, Build, Fail, Learn. It’s the only way.
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