---
title: "Stop Pissing Off Your Designers"
date: 2009-04-01T00:00:00+00:00
draft: false
canonical_url: https://www.viget.com/articles/stop-pissing-off-your-designers/
---

A few weeks ago, our local [Refresh](http://refreshthetriangle.org)
group pitted me (representing web developers) against Viget designer
[Mindy](https://www.viget.com/about/team/mwagner) in a battle for the
ages. Our talk, "Ten Things Designers Do That Piss Developers Off (and
Vice Versa)," offered a back-and-forth look at some of the issues that
crop up between web professionals. Despite the overwhelming strength of
my arguments, I won't deny that she got some good shots in. Here are
some of the key lessons I took away.

### Stay off the bandwagon

One of Mindy's best points was the tendency of developers, when
selecting technologies to use on a project, to go with what's new and
hip rather than what's the best fit or what will yield the best final
result. I think we can all relate to learning a new technology or
technique and then wanting to immediately apply it to whatever we're
working on.

Technology bandwagon-jumping goes hand-in-hand with another common
problem: over-engineering. In my experience, when a chosen technology is
a bad fit for a project, it's typically because it's too powerful. An
over-engineered solution is a nightmare for the next developer --- in a
past life, I maintained a Spring-powered, Lucene-searchable monstrosity
running on dedicated hardware that would have been better served with a
WordPress install on Dreamhost.

When selecting technologies, stick with the best fit, whether that's
what you know best or what will lead to the best final product. If
you're just dying to try out some new technology, do what I do: redo
your personal site (in lieu of actually posting any new content to it).

### Avoid the knee-jerk "No"

Picture this: you're sitting at your desk one morning, happily reading
Hacker News, when an IM window pops up on your screen. It's your PM, and
she's got a new feature request from the client. It's not a major
change, but it will involve a substantial overhaul of the messaging
system you built. What's your response? Be honest --- you give her
seventeen reasons why the requested change is a bad idea.

When discussing feature requests, keep in mind that the ultimate goal is
to create the best product possible. Requirements change, and though it
sucks to complicate elegant solutions, sometimes change is necessary. As
an added benefit, if you avoid staying "no" instinctively, when a
*truly* bad idea lands on your plate, your objections will carry a lot
more weight.

### Remember: you are not the user

Mindy noted a trait common to many developers: a lack of empathy for the
user, or rather, the mistaken idea that we ourselves are the typical
user. In other words, developers are prone to creating features that
they would want to use, regardless of how well they might serve the
actual audience of the site.

When deciding on geeky features, it's important to keep your audience in
mind. If you're designing a site about web productivity, by all means,
go nuts --- bookmarklets, keyboard shortcuts, customizable RSS feeds,
the whole nine yards. But if your site's intended audience is, say,
gardening enthusiasts, your time would probably be better spent
elsewhere.

### But in the end

We all want to create the best web sites possible. Disagreements arise
about definitions of "best"; while a designer wants a site that's
attractive and intuitive, the developer wants one that is stable and
maintainable. In the end, these qualities aren't mutually exclusive ---
the highest-quality websites have them all.

Mindy has posted [her
thoughts](https://www.viget.com/inspire/stop-driving-your-developers-crazy)
on the talk, and our slides are available on
[SlideShare](http://www.slideshare.net/mindywagner/10-things-designers-do-that-piss-developers-off-and-vice-versa).
And if you're in Durham (or lesser nearby cities), come on out to the
next [Refresh](http://refreshthetriangle.org) meeting.

