Web technologies for designers - why and how

My name is Anton Shein. Sometimes I give talks about the design, prototyping and systematization of interfaces.

After each report, time after time I get two basic questions:

1. Should a designer be able to work with web technologies?
2. How to start a designer, if you want to deal with them?

I will try to answer them in this article.

Should a designer be able to work with web technologies?

In short: no, it should not.
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The fact is that no one owes anything to anyone. At least as long as you have not signed the documents with the bank or with someone else.

The correct question is: does owning web technologies help a designer to solve problems? Yes, it helps. Especially if you are working in a product in which data plays an important role.

Possession of technology will allow you to:

1. Automate routine. Those things that you do from time to time can make a computer for you. For example, to observe guidelines in design, to make hundreds of similar elements on the same model, to check them on different combinations of data, to change all the elements at once when changing one, etc.
2. Work out the design of complex systems and large-scale products.
3. It is easier to communicate with the development and quickly implement their work in the product. The layout, drawn in a graphic editor, allows many uncomfortable moments to be swept under the carpet. They will still have to face them at the development stage, when it will be too late to change the decision. If the designer works out all the details in advance, then the output product will turn out to be of higher quality and there will be less disputes along the way.
4. Check your decisions in life, without waiting for the development. Yes, there are a lot of applications and services that allow you to build a clickable prototype on the basis of images. But none of these services will allow you to use your product and test it in life before it is implemented by development.
5. Independently make the first versions of their personal projects, and not regret that there is no familiar developer. A working prototype, albeit a very simple one, is always a plus when selling an idea.

In this case, web technology is only one and skills that are useful for the designer. On them the light of the wedge did not converge. There is also typography, the ability to work with color, illustration, scenarios, negotiations, editorial skills, 3D-visualization, animation, etc.

The list is almost endless and each item expands your options. The more skills you have and the better you own each of them, the more opportunities you have for solving different tasks. And the more likely to participate in an interesting project.

What to focus on, everyone decides for himself.

If you are still reading and wondering how you can begin to study technology, then in the rest of the article I will try to highlight the first steps.

How to start learning web technologies?

There are many interactive online courses. But, in my opinion, you need to start not with them. When you start to practice martial arts, at the first classes you will not begin to learn techniques. First, you will need to learn how to run, push-ups, squat, and in every possible way prepare your body for the exercises.

So it is here. You need to start with two very important skills:

1. Ten-finger blind seal.
2. Basic ability to read in English.

Ten-Finger Blind Seal

When you transfer your thoughts to a computer, you should do it as simply and quickly as possible. If thoughts are expressed by text, be it a letter, an article or a code, then for their transmission the most convenient interface is the keyboard. Therefore, it is important to learn how to type quickly so that your thoughts are at your fingertips.

If you set a goal, you can master the basic skills of touch typing in a week in the evenings. After that, the print speed will increase itself.

Some tips:

1. As a simulator it is better to use thetypingcat.com or klava.org . The rest of the simulators are a mockery of the psyche and more harm than good from them.
2. Having started training to type blindly, do not be tempted to switch back to the usual method. Even if you really want to - the speed of learning from this will tend to zero, so the brain is arranged.

Skill is not only useful for code. Starting typing blindly you will save a lot of time on correspondence.

Basic English reading skills

When studying the code you will have many questions. Thanks to StackOverflow.com , they have the answers. But they are in English. In addition, there are a lot of good tutorials and articles in English. If you can read them, it will be much easier to learn.

You do not need to go to courses or open a thick textbook. Your brain is a neural network. And if you just force yourself to read the answers and articles in a foreign language, your brain will adapt itself. With each article you will be easier to read. A good helper in learning will be a browser plugin that translates words when selected.

Another way to learn to read in English is to force yourself to watch TV shows without dubbing. For this there is, for example, the wonderful Ororo.tv service.

It is better to start with simple TV shows, since “Sherlock” or “The Big Bang Theory” will be hard to watch. I myself have made great progress in English while watching “ Lost ” during training. There is very simple English, and the plot is so simple that without translation it is clear what is happening.

Online Courses

If you have mastered the blind seal and are able to read a little English, then you can go on. For example, try online technology courses. There are a lot of them, there are paid and free. Of the free ones, I myself like Codecademy.com more .

I would recommend this procedure:

1. HTML and CSS
2. JS Basics
3. Work with terminal

But the courses have a problem - they all very slowly and slowly chew. You manage to fall asleep before you get to the point.

Therefore, in the next post I will talk about a different approach to learning: we will take a real useful project and we will dissect it in pieces, at the same time studying what's what. If you are interested in it - follow the articles. Next will be on Monday. I tell about all new articles in Twitter, I also publish useful finds there.

PS: I will carefully read all comments at the end of the day and will respond with an update of the post.