GOTO Amsterdam 2016: "What developers should know about design"
By Livia Rickli & Erwin de Gier
What is this talk about?
In this presentation we talk about design for developers. It is mainly intended for anyone who isn’t a designer, but runs into design related work during his or her job. We give practical tips for developers, architects and projects managers, to give them insight into design principles which they can directly apply. This tips will help them by designing websites, building apps, creating presentations, drawing diagrams or changing existing designs.
Where did this idea come from?
The key to a good design is actually pretty simple, however how knows the universal principles? This is something we ran into last year, we met each other during the development of a web application for one of our clients. Erwin helped me with the implementation of the front-end and I told him about the design principles which I used. Since then, Erwin is not only a great Software Architect, but his work is also “pixel perfect”. After this project we frequently worked together on presentations, papers and workshops. Erwin became more enthusiastic about the implementation of good designs and shares his work with me for feedback. When we recognized that Erwin’s visual presentations were improving, we thought that it would be a nice idea to inspire others with these design principles. By using a few simple rules, you can make a big difference in your design.
What is your personal link with design?
Erwin: As software developer and speaker I frequently ran into the problem that I wasn’t able to visualize information correctly. This happed when building User Interfaces, creating presentations and drawing diagrams. Therefore I started looking into basic design principles and I realized that with a few simple concepts and some professional help you can really create good looking products. From here I will keep developing these skills.
Livia: As a UX Designer I am continuously involved into the realization of online & offline designs which are useful, unique and meaningful for the users. However, I am not alone in this. When my designs are ready, they are passed on to the developers. Efficient communication in this handover really contributes to success. For developers it is useful that a designer has some knowledge of coding, vice versa it is of added benefit for a designer when a developers knows about design principles. This enhances the communication and helps with implementing the design faster and more complete. I also like to design logo’s, brand books, flyers and more. I like the fact that each design has an even better story behind it.
This talk was presented by Erwin de Gier and Livia Rickli at GOTO Amsterdam 2016 on June 14th 2016.