Why UI/UX Designer Needs to Learn to Code
Organizations now fully comprehend that being customer-centric is a competitive benefit. This understanding has turned companies investing more in UX design. Coding becomes a serious skill that requires dedication to learn.
Types of web designers who’ll benefit most from coding -
1: Entrepreneurs and side hustlers
2: Career Transitioners, Freelancers and Consultants
3: The Code Enthusiast
Web Designers would benefit greatly from developing some foundational understanding of front end and CSS.
Knowledge of Coding Will Improve Collaboration With Developers
Learning how developers think, as well as what they need to be able to do their job, will certainly create a designer to an exceptional asset to any multidisciplinary team. This approach is beneficial for internal communications, together with idea pitches because it could have more of an idea precisely what to expect from the other members. If designers can do this, they'll be in a lot better position to propose more robust approaches to the clients.
Is there a designer anywhere who wouldn’t like to have an edge over others when considering highly-coveted jobs at exciting startups, or big established tech companies?
Is Ai Will Wipeout Front-end Developers?
One question remains though: Is coding for designers will stay relevant in the long run? Designers will soon be able to design without code. Just drag-and-drop and move things around on the screen, then press a button and AI codes everything. Quite simply, jobs for such types of front-end developers will quickly disappear.
Where designers are concerned, the answer may lie in thinking short-term vs long-term. Soon, AI won't take control, and designers who code could still have high demand. For the shorter term, designers who wish to be different need to keep certain basic coding skills, for instance, JavaScript and Ajax at least.
How Much Code Will a UX Designer Need to Write?
Although I wouldn’t consider writing code to be a core skill for a UX designer. There’s no denying the advantages that the capability to write even a small amount of code can bring a lot to a designer.
I’m not suggesting that all designers should become developers. Not at all. Server-side programming is another topic entirely. Sure, if you’re inquisitive about learning a language like PHP, Rails or Python, it |will not be time wasted. Learning a fresh skill rarely is. However, the benefits of being able to program upon the server-side for user experience, the designer isn’t as obvious.
Let’s start!
This means you are convinced you should learn a bit more coding, but still wants to know how to become a full stack designer?
Don’t be afraid: Step one is to recognize that coding is like spoken languages, it is a thing that anyone can learn. There are some awesome online courses for mastering code. My recommendation is to start from the basics—HTML and CSS
Here is a list of resources to start learning HTML/CSS
Code School— great online courses
Stack Overflow — the main resource for Q&A regarding code/programming.
CSS-Tricks — a how-to guide for CSS
CodePen — real-time code editor
The Web Developer Bootcamp (paid resource)
Don’t Fear the Internet (free)
List of basic tools you can use for starting:
Good Designers Vs Great Designers
The ease of relationship you provide plus the trust level you build by anticipating these challenges before they happen is precisely what separates average designers from great designers.
When designers understand the basics of coding, they could:
Design things in a way that’s simpler to code
Determine what questions they could ask developers to avoid problems
Work on portfolio sites/side projects without taking the help of the developer
Share a standard terminology with the developers
How Can People Prepare for Design BootCamps?
Here are a few great UX design resources -
The Design of Everyday Things - by Don Norman book
My Advice for Becoming a UX Designer - by Jessica Ivins article
52 Weeks of UX - website
UX Myths - website
We've answered a majority of the questions regarding -
Does a UX designer need to code?
Does UI require coding?
How can I improve my UI UX skills?
Should designers learn to code?
Is coding necessary for web design?
Top 11 Prototyping Tools for UX
-
InVision:
Cost: Single project — Free
3 projects (starter) — $15/month
Unlimited Projects (Professional) — $25/month
Runs on: Web
Prototypes for: Android, iOS, Web -
Adobe Experience Design:
Cost: Free
Runs on: OS X, Windows, Android, iOS
Prototypes for: All -
Sketch:
Cost:Free trial
$99 for full version
Runs on: OS X
Prototypes for: OS X, iOS, Web -
Axure:
Cost: 30-day Trial — Free
Pro — $29/month ($495 to purchase)
Team — $49/month ($895 to purchase, per user)
Enterprise (includes on-premise solutions) — $99/month
Runs on: OS X, Windows
Prototypes for: All OS’s -
Balsamiq Mockups:
Cost: 30-day Free trial
Web app — $12/month
Single User — $89
Volume License — Varies by number of users
Runs on: Web, OS X, Windows
Hello Celyn,
I agree with you that it depends on the goal.
I’ve been a front-ender for years and currently in my graduate year of Communications & Media Design with a Major in UXD. And I think if you want to understand what kind of impact your design has on your front-end (and back-end) team, you absolutely need to be an intermediate practitioner in HTML, CSS and the arguably of Javascript or jQuery.
This is especially true for more complex systems like content-heavy apps with a limited range of available patterns.
The more you know, the better you know what implications your decisions are on making your designs and interactions meaningful for the end user. Plus, it speeds up your product development.
Many companies have that ‘gap’ between the uxd/visual department and the development department.
But then again, you could argue that it’s the front-end department who should learn more trades of the UX field and hook-on early in the design process to guide and support the UX and visual team.
So, in my opinion, the question ‘should I learn to code’ is: yes. It will make you more valuable.
Thanks,
Stephenie