Thinking Design
6 Reasons to Learn to Code
Why do our Bachelor of Design students learn low-level computer programming?
Designing with low-level computation
Today design industries finding value in people who code [1]. We imagine, in three years , when our first cohort graduates, our alumni will be developing the next game-changing Apple wearable, programming CNC technology to weave the structure of the next Nike Flyknit product, or working at major construction company exploring millions of real-estate scenarios using AI.
However, even if many students don’t become professional coders, I believe coding is a enabling skill for designers to express ideas and connect with the world in new and beautiful ways.
From my own experiences as an architect, software developer, and teacher, I will share 6 reasons to learn to code:
- Studying a language helps the mind formulate new connections
Knowing how to code is similar to learning a new language. As a designer it can allow you to make connections that are often difficult to imagine beforehand. For example, as an Architect I was able to develop an award-winning 3D printing software by combing my knowledge of digital manufacturing and coding to create new design tools.
2. Coding is not just computers
Coding is not just on screens. Path-recording robots which are guided through human interactions and new kinds of programmed materials with special properties rely computational thinking. There will be programming for websites, phone apps, or videos, but programming is as much digital as it will be physical.
3. Coding is “Hard Fun”
Coined by Seymour Papert, artificial intelligence and early-childhood education pioneer, coding is Hard Fun. Hard fun is the fact that everyone likes hard and challenging things to do. Of course this depends on the individual. For me I have found the experience of creating something with my hands, expressing my ideas by creating a computer program, and the result sense of accomplishment keeps me engaged to continue learning programming.
4. Learning to code is learning how to learn
Trying to write a computer code requires a great deal of iteration, consulting secondary sources and trying the latest techniques and concepts. Finding people to help you with difficult problems. To come up with an objective, research the steps needed to achieve it and then implementing it.
5. Coding can be social as much as it is technical
As a student at MIT, I was the co-founder of CodeKitchen — a weekly meeting which allowed the design community to meet up, to work on independent projects or help others with their projects. CodeKitchen wasn’t just learning to code. It was being able to connect with an intellectual design community, discuss ideas, and share work in an informal setting.
6. We to teach our students to build your own
To study furniture design, most people would agree that you must be able to build a chair — to learn how to cut wood, stretch the leather, and test how it works. The same can be said of any field which uses digital design. Without a working knowledge of lower-level computation, focus shifts from the design process to continuously adapting to new capabilities afforded by software upgrades.
Conclusion
You don’t need to code, but mastering this craft, being part of a supportive community and configuring your mind and body to work in a new way will help you discover, adapt and invent in your life and career as a designer new and unexpected ways. All that to be said, coding is a practical skill to help you get a better job. But it is also rewarding as playful, expressive, artistic and social medium for exploring design.
N O T E S
1 Beyond Point and Click: The Expanding Demand for Coding Skills, Accessed March 3, 2020 <https://www.burning-glass.com/research-project/coding-skills/>
2 Papert, Seymour (2002) “Hard Fun” Article for the Bangor Daily News. Accessed March 3, 2020 <http://www.papert.org/articles/HardFun.html>
