#TENYEARSCHALLENGE WEB DESIGN
In the last 10 years the IT world has been considerably transformed. New areas of work were created, unsuspected needs arised from the new importance placed on users, the harsh deadlines have encouraged workers to handle several tasks at the same time because of the preponderant areas that have turned independent on their own. And in design, which is my field of expertise and what this writing is about, this trend is also evident.
I remember when in 2007 I started my first Dreamweaver typing. As a web designer, a single person, did all the tasks imaginable: Mocked up the site, coded it, designed the client’s logo, made an animated banner with flash (do you remember flash?) and sometimes even took care of the hosting and Google Analytics.
This happened a bit because there was a growing-trend of Graphic Designers who were flirting with the web, partly because of the need (the industry demanded people to cover those positions ) and partly to explore new territories. Web design careers were increasingly popular, but in many cases i they were more focused on basic graphic design concepts and knowledge about the Dreamweaver menu utilities, which hardly dealt with coding and were mainly used to work on graphic environments, much WYSIWYG still going around. And, of course, Flash, with which you rarely have to use ActionScript to make a shocking site.
At that time, however, the aesthetics needs for web sites and applications were way out of the reach of programmers and demanded a more appealing approach, more thought from a design stand-point. There were many jokes about design based on tables and CSS3 began to appear on the horizon giving the design new forms of expression.
The 2000s was the era for Old School web designers, the “off-roads”, those who learned while working. They ended up learning programming includes when realizing that it was easier to edit a single file and include it in just one line of code than to make modifications over 324 files to add a new link for the web site footer.
Until one day, ten years ago, you wake up and realize that your work, in reality, is three, four, FIVE … different jobs. (Well… you’re going to be paid just for one, huh?) But the thing is that your first impression is that you’re some kind of a guru, your designer IQ is so high and you didn’t even know it. Suddenly your feet rise about a couple of inches from the floor and there are golden halos all around your head. And then… a wormhole sucks you out and you fall back into the bitter reality: you realize that you really do not know anything, that there are designers specifically devoted to one area, that they completely dominate it, that they know that ecosystem like the palm of their hand.
Sure, you know how to make animations in CSS3, but … how to compete with a professional who is ALL the day creating the best animation possible for that transition? While you take care of a dozen other tasks that have nothing to do with animations.
And from there it emerges the situation of having two types of professionals: the “Swiss Army Knife” and the “surgeon scalpel”. While there is a market for both, nowadays the second ones are in high demand; you have never heard as much as now about UX designers, for example, or about graphic designers making mockups, who will later be coding for a UI Designer or a Front-End Designer.
So, the designers of today… what do they do? Do they still design? Yes and no. Following you will find a list not very extensive or profound about the different new areas for web designers. Let’s see briefly what each one defines…
Graphic Designer
Their tools are Photoshop, Illustrator, latest trends in colors and fonts. They are devoted to making a site look the best way possible and defining the look and feel all throughout the project, as well as transmitting the client’s identity with shapes and colors.
User Interface Designers
They take the static models of the Graphic Designers to code, helped with the prototypes of the UX Designers to define behaviors and status in different devices. They give them a decent IDEA and they will transform a JPG into a beautiful styled HTML.
User Experience Designer
They see life more in gray scale than in colors. Their concern is that the user has a good trip within the application or site. It does not need to be cute but practical, intuitive and functional. Adobe XD, Invision and any other soft to generate wireframes are useful and if none of those are at hand: the old good pencil and paper.
Interaction Designer
Very much related with UX, but completely focused on the relationship between the user and the medium. That is, they search for new and improved forms of communication between users and devices such as screens, mouses. they control that the alerts and messages of the application fulfill their function efficiently, etc. They are the next level of user experience.
Front End Designer
They are the hybrid between User Interface Designer and the Developer. They know how to code in html, css and JS, They can even collaborate with tougher programming elements. But their goal is to program in a design-oriented way, with the aesthetics and the user more present than, maybe, the performance.
While it is an extensive and detailed list of the different areas of web design today, it should be noted that in practice the tangents of each division are not so defined and in many companies a single professional may be responsible for several of these activities.
In the next few years, the Universal Web Developer, will continue to enjoy good health, it is always necessary for someone to know a little about everything, to cover all the fronts and to unify the design. While in larger companies, where specific resources can be deployed for specific actions, it is not wrong to think of new possibilities for the web design individuality. Social media marketing Designers, maybe? Atomic designers?
There are still software companies, especially in Argentina, which is the niche I know the most about that take design as an accessory. They should understand that design is as important as programming in a software product. It is infinitely easier to sell a well-designed product; it is more durable in time and in future upgrades on design and development. From our place as professional designers we have to resist, push to strengthen our profession , make use of our knowledge and never stop growing and learning.
