How I use Macaw

It’s here to stay but not a replacement for coding

When I first heard about Macaw I thought immediately “oh great, another Dreamweaver like program” but after I saw the demo and what their progress resulted in I was quite excited. I wasn’t thinking I wouldn’t have to code anymore, god no. I was more excited as a designer that prototyping ideas would be a lot better.

A lot of debate has been happening in the design community that Macaw is apparently going to be the reason people will stop learning to code, that is just plain silly. While Macaw is pretty good about its code, it’s not going to be the replacement for designers. Besides if new designers bothered to not learning how to code and stuck with Macaw, what would happen if they had to work for a client without it? This was the same issue I presented to my professor in my Intro to Dreamweaver course. Yes this was an actual course, don’t ask me why.

When I first started doing web related design in high school I stuck exclusively to Photoshop, this was because I didn’t know how to code. This was a problem for a couple of different reasons. Once I finally learned the magic of HTML and CSS in college, I stuck almost exclusively to designing sites through code. For me it was just common sense, I didn’t see the point in trying to design something in Photoshop when I could make it in HTML and be 100% precise with CSS.

I’m quite OCD with my design so when I first started doing this it was a match made in heaven but the honeymoon phase did start to fade and I missed my old friend Photoshop. So it made sense when I heard about Macaw I got quite excited. From what I saw it was like HTML and Photoshop had a illegitimate lovechild and Macaw was the result. But I was excited for different reasons then what they marketed it for.

For me Macaw is awesome not because I can make responsive websites without ever having to write a single line of code. I love Macaw because it allows me to prototype my designs with tools that fit my needs. It’s a pain in Photoshop to target specific sides of a border with certain rules. This is the same for presenting my concepts, it makes such a difference showing my prototype actually being functional.

So it comes down to this: Macaw is a great prototyping tool and allows designers to mockup their ideas in a fast and easy to use setting but it won’t be a reason to stop coding. For now I only see Macaw as a tool to get an idea of what you want before you start coding the real deal.

Not to mention, there is no way I could use anything I’ve generated in Macaw and apply it to my products. The code is just not clean enough at the moment. It’s better to deliver specific instructions for what you plan to apply. So to conclude: Macaw is awesome but it will not stop people from learning or writing code.

That said, go check out Macaw. It’s a really kickass tool and I’ve had a lot of fun using it. According to RescueTime, I’ve spent 16 hours using Macaw so far this week. If that isn’t a testament to how much fun I’ve been having I don’t know what is.

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