Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Developers Can't Design
Search
Jen Myers
January 13, 2012
Programming
13
1.6k
Developers Can't Design
(And Other Completely Untrue Design Myths)
Jen Myers
January 13, 2012
Tweet
Share
More Decks by Jen Myers
See All by Jen Myers
Listen to Your (and All) Mothers
jenmyers
0
160
Cartoon Creativity
jenmyers
0
220
How To Not Be an Expert
jenmyers
1
260
How to Start Coding from Any Level
jenmyers
0
250
Shepherding Unicorns
jenmyers
2
290
Owning It
jenmyers
0
300
Developers Can't Design (2013)
jenmyers
6
470
How to Not Be an Expert
jenmyers
8
560
Redesigning the Interface
jenmyers
4
810
Other Decks in Programming
See All in Programming
What's new in AppKit on macOS 26
1024jp
0
150
AI時代の『改訂新版 良いコード/悪いコードで学ぶ設計入門』 / ai-good-code-bad-code
minodriven
23
9.1k
初学者でも今すぐできる、Claude Codeの生産性を10倍上げるTips
s4yuba
16
12k
Git Sync を超える!OSS で実現する CDK Pull 型デプロイ / Deploying CDK with PipeCD in Pull-style
tkikuc
4
300
なんとなくわかった気になるブロックテーマ入門/contents.nagoya 2025 6.28
chiilog
1
280
Rails Frontend Evolution: It Was a Setup All Along
skryukov
0
250
GPUを計算資源として使おう!
primenumber
1
210
AIエージェントはこう育てる - GitHub Copilot Agentとチームの共進化サイクル
koboriakira
0
690
iOS 26にアップデートすると実機でのHot Reloadができない?
umigishiaoi
0
140
リバースエンジニアリング新時代へ! GhidraとClaude DesktopをMCPで繋ぐ/findy202507
tkmru
1
250
AI時代のソフトウェア開発を考える(2025/07版) / Agentic Software Engineering Findy 2025-07 Edition
twada
PRO
97
35k
Advanced Micro Frontends: Multi Version/ Framework Scenarios @WAD 2025, Berlin
manfredsteyer
PRO
0
370
Featured
See All Featured
We Have a Design System, Now What?
morganepeng
53
7.7k
Sharpening the Axe: The Primacy of Toolmaking
bcantrill
44
2.4k
Docker and Python
trallard
45
3.5k
The MySQL Ecosystem @ GitHub 2015
samlambert
251
13k
How to Think Like a Performance Engineer
csswizardry
25
1.7k
The World Runs on Bad Software
bkeepers
PRO
69
11k
Making the Leap to Tech Lead
cromwellryan
134
9.4k
Visualization
eitanlees
146
16k
StorybookのUI Testing Handbookを読んだ
zakiyama
30
5.9k
Optimising Largest Contentful Paint
csswizardry
37
3.3k
Let's Do A Bunch of Simple Stuff to Make Websites Faster
chriscoyier
507
140k
The Web Performance Landscape in 2024 [PerfNow 2024]
tammyeverts
8
700
Transcript
DEVELOPERS CAN’T DESIGN AND OTHER COMPLETELY UNTRUE DESIGN MYTHS JEN
MYERS • @ANTIHEROINE • SCOTTISH RUBY CONFERENCE, 30 JUNE 2012
What is design?
“Design is the appropriate combination of materials in order to
solve a problem.” - CHARLES EAMES
“Design is thinking made visual.” - SAUL BASS
“Design is the method of putting form and content together.
Design, just as art, has multiple definitions, there is no single definition.... Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - PAUL RAND
What is design? Graphic design Industrial design Interaction design Experience
design Web/interface design
Why should developers care?
Design is teachable. Design is communication.
DESIGN IS DECORATION DESIGN MYTH #1
“It’s not just what it looks like and feels like.
Design is how it works.” - STEVE JOBS
How design works Structure Content Organization Message Functionality
How design works Wireframes Palettes Mood boards Copy Data flows
User testing
DESIGN IS SUBJECTIVE DESIGN MYTH #2
“Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem
solving, not about personal or unsupported opinion.” - BOB BAXLEY
Basic design principles Balance Repetition Proximity Emphasis Unity
BALANCE SYMMETRICAL
BALANCE ASYMMETRICAL
REPETITION COLOR, FONT, SHAPE, LOGO
REPETITION COLOR, FONT, SHAPE, LOGO
EMPHASIS VISUAL DOMINANCE & HIERARCHY
PROXIMITY GROUPING LIKE ELEMENTS
UNITY COHERENCE OF LOOK, FEEL & MESSAGE
Related design concepts Positive/negative space Contrast Typography Color theory Ratios
DESIGN IS SEPARATE FROM DEVELOPMENT DESIGN MYTH #3
“The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather
than each other.” - THOMAS STALLKAMP
No silos Communication Community Design & Dev 4eva Project integration
should code. Designers ...
Jen Myers Relevance
[email protected]
@antiheroine SLIDES: speakerdeck.com/u/jenmyers/p/developers-cant-design