Design for Software: A Playbook for Developers

Introduction

SINCE I CAN remember, I’ve always had a special love for technology and design. In fact, my earliest childhood drawings weren’t made with crayon and paper but with my Grandmother’s Apple II. Throughout my career I’ve struggled with a bit of an identity crisis—Am I a designer? Am I a developer? Could I be both? In college I had a hell of a time trying to sign up for courses that allowed me to get a dual degree in Computer Science and Fine Arts. For the next four years people would ask, “Why are you wasting your time getting a Fine Arts degree? Physics is a much better compliment to computer science.” Or “Computer Science? What are you going to do with that? You should be thinking about getting experience at a design studio.”

Out of college I was hired into a long-established software development company. In many ways, I was responsible for defining my own role within the company, educating people about design and how it fit into to their projects. Initially, there was some hesitancy and even animosity towards the presence of design in a well-oiled development process. But over time it became clear that having a design competency in the tech field gave us a unique advantage.

And here I am, writing a book about the intersection of design and software. I would have never guessed…Reminiscing about my story always a reminds me how just a few short years ago the coexistence of design and technology was a relatively foreign concept. And now we’ve come full circle, UI and ...