17 comments

  • Kwang-Su KimKwang-Su Kim, over 6 years ago

    Should Designers Write?

    22 points
    • Andu PotoracAndu Potorac, over 6 years ago

      Yes, fuck yes! Designers need to be good storytellers. You won't become a good storyteller if you don't even know how to speak to an audience of one (before you publish).

      3 points
      • Kwang-Su KimKwang-Su Kim, over 6 years ago

        Designer's storytelling is not necessarily to be a written text. Good design doesn't require a manual to covey its context.

        Does good writing skill make a better designer? Yes, it does. Then how about coding? Yes, it does. How about pottery? How about gardening? Everything can help.

        Designers are designers, and writers are writers. If you want to be a good storyteller then be a novelist.

        1 point
        • Denis RojcykDenis Rojcyk, over 6 years ago

          How does coding make you a better designer? Sure it is good to know how things work under the hood but being a mechanical engineer won't make me a better F1 pilot. It just shifts my focus to cost effective design.

          0 points
          • Kwang-Su KimKwang-Su Kim, over 6 years ago

            Seriously? Do you really want to start about that here again? I'm sure you can find a bunch of Medium posts about that.

            2 points
          • Account deleted over 6 years ago

            I've been working with a self-absorbed designer for 6 months and he never learned anything about Swift, Obj-C (or Java for that matter) but he designed interfaces for mobile platforms most of his time. He claims to have 10+ years of experience in the field but mistakes and illogical steps in UX he makes are unbelievable. And why is that? Because he doesn't know how everything works (which is sad). Me, a person doing this for a couple of good years (formally) did a better job for clients than this grandiose designer.

            3 points
            • Denis RojcykDenis Rojcyk, over 6 years ago

              I understand your point but this doesn't seem to be related to code. Understanding how things works =/= knowing how to code. These are two completely different things.

              0 points
          • Russ BrownRuss Brown, over 6 years ago

            I absolutely believe that learning how an F1 fighter works (i.e being an engineer or learning some engineering) would make you a better F1 pilot.

            4 points
      • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, over 6 years ago

        Best response to "storyteller" shit.

        https://vimeo.com/98368484

        3 points
    • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 6 years ago

      Depends on the resources at hand and the processes/systems in place in your company. Same as coding, pretty much!

      2 points
  • John PJohn P, over 6 years ago

    "Designer who actually never designs anymore and makes career in writing and self promotion says writing is the most important skill for designers"

    More accurate headline.

    Used to be a massive fan of his early work (highly recommend his books pre-Laws of Simplicity) and it was super influential to me, since he got sucked into the VC BS world I honestly don't even have the time of day for the guy.

    8 points
  • Matthew StrömMatthew Ström, over 6 years ago

    I definitely think writing is an important skill for a designer to master.

    But "Unicorn Skill?" Just typing that makes me a little sick to my stomach.

    Learn how to write well, learn how to code, study design history and typography, and you will become a more well-rounded designer. No need for silver bullets.

    6 points
    • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, over 6 years ago

      So my question is this: does the "?" need to be in the quotes or outside. I NEVER REMEMBER.

      But seriously - I'd abstract this concept of "writing well" out from "designing well" and assume he means "we need to become better writers to become better communicators"

      Especially since almost everything we do to communicate in a digital format is with text. (We even text pictures of text now-a-days)

      1 point
  • Mike MaiMike Mai, over 6 years ago

    Being positive is Design's "Unicorn Skill".

    3 points
  • Gabbie CastañedaGabbie Castañeda, over 6 years ago

    I think the more accurate way of talking about this is that writing well is a very important skill to have when thinking about the UX, and honestly, there are a lot of web pages that sound kind of like a bot is speaking to you.

    Now, is it a Unicorn Skill? I don't think so, it's just that designers have been so focused on visual design that they haven't worked (or been trained) in how writing can affect their overall design.

    2 points
  • Diego LafuenteDiego Lafuente, over 6 years ago

    The other day I was talking with other fellow designers and I found out there's a lot of identity noise on the air. We're discussing probably x10 times more than developers do. I don't see the same heat of discussions on the developer side.

    1 point