frontend to ....
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- Stugoo
Ive been developing front end now for the best part of 5 years, I am comfortable building complex layouts, integrating javascript for functionality for nice little highlights ajax, functionality, progressive enhancement etc and all the good stuff that comes with front end.
I come from a design background and know a good layout when i see one, but I came to the realization a few years ago that I am not a designer. I felt the best way to push both my logical and creative sides was to keep building sites. I know IE6 bugs like the back of my hand and CSS is pretty much my bitch. I picked it up really quickly and was after 2 years was training a junior.
I'm getting to the stage now that I don't feel challenged with layouts anymore, I knock them out like banging a drum but I don't know where to go next.
I could try to get in as a senior front end wizard, manage a team etc... but then where do I go?
I could move into IA or UXD which looks like the most fun and I feel its the best natural development for a front ender like myself. but how do i get into that business? do i take a course or what?
I could always go back to school and try to get my degree in graphic design. With years of web under my belt and a diploma in design I think it could be fun.
or do i just give it all up and work in a bar?what do you guys think?
cheers :)
- Terminal270
IA and UXD do sound like a lot of fun, and right now both seem to be the buzz words to get on the gravey train. Set your self up as a UXD pimp and milk the bitch dry. :)
- working with a UXD pimp is awesome, i think that a specialty is arising...Stugoo
- detritus0
I think a lot of us get caught up with this question.
For me, the pure novelty of dicking around with new tehnologies to deliver content disappeared quite a few years ago - I realised I want to actually DO something with the ability.
So that'd be my suggestion to you. Carry on with what you are, but on the side - try and make a business out of it. Something unconcerned with the net itself.
Having the ability to build the whole of a website is a powerful skill and should not be underestimated.
Knock 'em dead, tiger.
- detritus0
Minor addendum -
Tthe reason I think it's good to diverge is that I can envisage a point, not too many years off, where the ability to make the whole of a site won't be too l33t. Even if it is, India and China are only going to get bigger and better and take more and more of the complex/menial tasks from us... so best diversify now and make a business which youll still want to be doing in 10 or 20 years.
Besides which, our economies need broader foundations.
- India/China, HTML7, two way browsers, omnipresent social networks, etc = too many pointless webniks in future.detritus
- dMullins0
I don't think you need the degree. I think you are talented enough as it is, and I would advise you keep on truckin' down the path your discussing in this thread.
How to break into IA/UXD, I don't know. Probably the best way to get started is to determine goals for professional yourself. "What is my ideal position?" "Do I want to manage teams, or be a part of a team being managed?" I don't know what your reading habits are, but maybe transition from reading design and culture blogs, to strictly UI/UX/IA blogs, so that you can further develop what you already know.
Sounds like you have a clear idea of what you might want to do. The trick now is to follow through, and figure out how to do that I guess.
I don't think that throwing money at the degree is the best option. Perhaps find a start-up who needs a dual-class (lol, D&D reference) dev/designer like you, where you can get your feet soaked doing UI/UX/IA.
Best of luckâwish I had better advice, Stu.
- lukus_W0
I think I know where you're coming from, though I don't have enough professional experience to need to switch tracks yet.
I tell myself that having a grasp of both sides (tech and design) is a great thing .. and that it's people who can be flexible who'll be in demand. (.. well, at least I hope that's true)
Maybe you just need to find a longterm project that's interesting enough? The skills you have are going to be a huge asset wherever you choose to go .. and I reckon doing something like becoming involved in running a startup has it's own set of problems and rewards. Or maybe become involved with an open-source project which needs good UX and has a few professionals on board who can provide a bit of mentoring?
In a sense, I think that web design/development is like learning to paint or draw - you'll never master it completely, and if you start to get bored you just need to find different subjects and themes to focus on.
- moth0
I still maintain that the milk goes in the mug first.
Seriously though, working for a start-up is a good idea. Did it for the last 2/3 years. The drawbacks... little money, and the very real possibility of failure. I also got very sick of seeing the same brand on a day to day basis and it gets very, very hard to be objective about your work when you're so close to a project like that. The designer in you will want to redesign it every 6 months.
Quite like detritus' idea. I find myself being able to build pretty much 'anything' and find that quite a tempting way to start a business for myself. Trick is, finding something to offer...
- clearThoughts0
I think that if you've been doing Front-End for that long and still feel that you need to go to design school, then it's probably because you are not too confident about designing.
I personally think that design has a lot to do with being confident about the decisions you take.
Probably better to go the UXD / IA route. Sounds like you have enough experience for it.
- Stugoo0
i think the designer in me wants broken out again. When I left college I had a strong design folio and my ideas were flowing, but in the last 5 years I think I have lost that confidence, with my design anyway.
Regardless the main love that I have/had with front end is/was taking a design and bringing it to life. The 'right thing to do' feels like moving into planning with UX.
I take my morning 'warm up' time to read all my rss, tweets and blogs to keep on top of new technologies and techniques. Maybe I should begin incorporating UX more heavily and dedicate at least half my reading time to it.
Maybe look into doing human behavior course or something that will help me understand behavior and choices more than I already 'know'
- dropdown0
Game development UI design.
- with Flash and Maya.dropdown
- game dev is something i REALLY want to do!Stugoo
- So what's stopping you? You seem to pick things up fairly quickly. Check out Gnomon or some other game dev sites.dropdown
- video games aren't going anywhere. Plus they're always evolving so you shouldn't get bored.dropdown
- being at work is stopping me :*(Stugoo
- Nightshade0
I do design and development and am becoming increasingly interested in usabilty/UX too. I wonder if my 6 years design/dev experience is enough to move into that area, or whether employers would look for a degree in psychology or similar?