Ask HN: Is a coder who can design more valuable?

7 points by MrHorsetoast 8 years ago | 6 comments

Hi, the title isn't very clear but my question didn't fit there. I would like to know your opinion, especially from business owners and people who hire programmers, designers.

I started as a designer in an advertising agency and later transitioned to front-end development. I looked at my dribbble portfolio today and had this dilemma whether I should have kept designing and getting better at it instead of becoming a half developer, half designer.

Are people like me in demand? I imagine big companies would rather hire someone profiled in one thing because they can afford to have Javascript developer only focus on javascript and not bother with designing. I currently work at a start-up where I do both. So maybe I'm fit for small companies where agile developing, designing and prototyping is needed. I never worked for a large corporation and don't know if there are positions that would benefit from my skills and experience?

// P.S: I'm new here and I can't figure out how to post this in the "ask" section. Sorry.

ezekg 8 years ago |

I started my career as a designer and eventually taught myself programming. I moved from front-end to back-end development over the course of a few years. I unfortunately had to completely remove any design-related skills from my resume because I would always end up in a front-end designer role, even though I preferred and was more passionate about back-end development roles.

I have found my design skill set valuable for my own businesses and side projects, but when working for an employer I have found the skill set burdensome and counter-productive for my career direction. (It’s worth mentioning that I do not enjoy doing design-work professionally, as I usually feel like I have no creative freedom and end up feeling like a paintbrush.)

MrHorsetoast 8 years ago | |

So that confirms what I've been thinking. I'm also thinking about removing one of the skill sets from my resume, just haven't fully decided which one :)

peterburkimsher 8 years ago |

I went to university to study Electronic Systems Engineering, and particularly liked the courses in circuit design. When it was time to find a job, I decided to continue doing short-term summer internships so I could travel to more places before settling down. That shifted my focus from hardware to software, and now most of my work experience is in coding.

Designers who can code are more likely to work well with developers, understand the tradeoffs that developers face, and design accordingly. Startup companies might only be able to afford one employee to do design & development, so having broad skills is very good for small companies.

Big companies are appealing when thinking about settling down long-term. They usually want specialists rather than generalists, but with your experience, I think you'd be well-qualified as a designer or developer.

While you have more freedom in your contracts, do more side projects! Your Chinese-character app is fun :) (share it here!). It shows good design as well as coding. The logos you made for the Ultimate Frisbee club are also cool. Putting those on a flashy website and writing a couple of blog posts or comments here on HN might be enough to get job offers.

In the long-term, some skills endure better. The popular JavaScript frameworks change every few years, so coders have to keep retraining (although the basic principles are always the same). Advertising brings in a lot of revenue for tech companies, so they'll keep paying people to apply the same skills in that field for a while to come.

In 2019 I'll be making a change, but I don't know where that will lead me. If it involves pivoting my career path so I can go to a particular country, I'm open to that. You're still young, so stay flexible for another few years. Good luck! :)

relaunched 8 years ago |

There are very few jobs that require both skills, outside of a small business / startup that can't spend on both. Very few companies will pay for 1/2 of what they want in a specific role to get 1/2 of what they can get with that other req they have open. If that's how you present yourself, that's how they'll think of you.

segmondy 8 years ago |

For smaller businesses looking to pay less sure, they can hire you to be both the designer and developer.

EnderMB 8 years ago | |

I've worked with a few designer/developer hybrids, like myself, and this almost always turns out to be the case.

Even when it doesn't, you find yourself doing more of one than the other for a prolonged period of time, and suddenly you find yourself out of date. I used to be handy with Photoshop, and I still am to some extent, but gone are the days when I could build a full site design in a PSD.

The only place I've found where this doesn't turn out to be the case is as a freelance/contract resource. Being able to handle the whole lifecycle yourself is great if you're marketing yourself directly, and assuming you're not taking on huge clients on your own you'll always be switching between your skills.