Design Code Engineer
Javascript is a language of the browser. It helps us to program to create all sorts of creative animated web content in the browser. Using P5.js we can make these things happen. We can make art, data visualisation, websites, apps etc. P5.js provides a lot functions within a library. It helps us to easily make a circle animate it fill it in with colours etc. Knowing the basics of the same is very important and practice makes a man perfect. We our module by recollecting and studying new and old basics of Javascript and P5.js. I have already learnt and used basics like creating a shape, using mouse to interact with it, editing it, editing text. For me the touch and mobile functions were something new and I was really excited to learn about them and use them. Object Oriented Programming is basically translating real world entities into a program. It consists of class which is the concept of the real world and object which is the real world entity. To implement the program we need to code the class for object. We need to convert the class into entity by describing its attributes, behaviour and responsibilities. As designer we need to design the class and create objects based on the class. We focused on E-Governance in India for our projects in the module. We researched about different sectors of E-Governance in India. We settled on something that we had never heard off. The E-Haat service provided by Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, which is a platform for women to put up their business online. We found loopholes in the system through our primary and research and made a system blueprint. Referring to the blueprint we made classes and found connections in those different classes. We are further implementing on the our research and making a prototype. We also had a Hackathon for developing this prototype. Kind off a beginners hackathon but we got an experience how an actual hackathon is. We sat together with our problem figuring out what all we can use and how we can go about it.
The question that most of us Human centered designers have always questioned is that do we really need to learn coding. I don’t see designers learning to code to be negative. It will always benefit our careers. I feel it is really beneficial to understand how our designs are going to be implemented. It will really help our design decisions, we will also know the difficulty it takes to create the design. In the job point of view, if we apply for smaller start-up companies, the people with single job-description might have limited opportunities. More than going deep into the advance I feel designers should have a strong basic understanding that could help them layout the project or how the project could scale up or scale down in terms of mobile or responsive design. But at the end of the day I think it comes to each individual and their goals. I feel that learning to code is beneficial but I don’t think it’s necessary. Coding is a skill that allows growth when it comes to your critical thinking skills. But now, there are hardcore coders/developers work on the coding, leaving the designers to create visual masterpieces without touching a single line of code. Putting that out there do developers need to learn how to design? Why not we ask the question vice-a versa. UX designer Susan Stuart makes the case that writing and UX design aren’t so different. “Here’s where I’d like to draw the parallel with writing — because a core skill of the interaction designer is imagining users (characters), motivations, actions, reactions, obstacles, successes, and a complete set of ‘what if’ scenarios,” she said. “These are the skills of a writer.” This is kind of intimidating to read. I have had this question for this question with me for the past three years and I have gained dual responses from everyone I have spoken to. I therefore decided to learn and strengthen at least my basics and grasp as much as advanced training I could get. From the things that I learnt in class and the examples shown to me while understanding the basics of p5.js I think I will be able to visualise my designs and iterate accordingly. Just like the hackathon we had. We attended a workshop on ML5 and we had been learning P5.js and we knew some basics of other visual languages as well. So we had an idea what we will need to and where we need to apply what to make the prototype work. I feel having this knowledge will certainly help us in the long run. The important thing though is we need a lot of practice even to keep the basics in our heads and not let is fly away.
Reading the interview with David Kelley by Bradley Hartfield, kind off solved the confusion about engineering and design and how they fit in their own places. We as designers question a lot to a problem and hence think beyond the simple solution. He said, “The designer has a dream that goes beyond what exists, rather than fixing what exists.” We start questioning why is it happening and how can we solve it in the long run. I won’t say design is opposite of mathematics. I feel design is also as structured as it is messy. We can dive deep into creativity and come with the most hypothetical situation but we will find a structures proof as to why it will work. Another thing I learnt from this was how open-ended our minds should be. Brainstorm and go as wild as you can. This will help reach us to a near conclusion. Taking a leap into roads that don’t exist, new perspective, coming out of comfort-zone and not holding on to the only idea you ever had. Our attitude and interaction to a problem is also very important. We need to have an open-ended mind set to reach to a structured mind set later. Every person will have a different opinion to the same situation and not necessary everyone is right or wrong. Embracing each perspective and brainstorming further on it will help us reach the desired goal.
