Designer vs. Developer: A Comprehensive Look at the Distinctions
Dive in to the distinction between designer and developers, see their definitions and required skills respectively.
It is well acknowledged that both designers and developers has played an important role in web creation. Simply put, web designers create a website’s look and feel while web developers create the code to make a functional website. In this article, we will delve into the distinction between these two roles, highlighting their respective definitions, responsibilities, types, skills required, and how they work together to build a successful website. Hope this blog can help you figure out their distinctions more easily.
What Is a Web Designer
The web designer is the one who will design the visual appearance of the website. Designers will determine how the website looks and feel. In addition to aesthetic considerations, web designers must also consider the website's usability and accessibility. In short, their primary role is to craft the visual appearance and user interface of a website.
What are their responsibilities?
- Creating innovative design concepts
- Generating comprehensive design frameworks
- Outlining detailed specific features and technical requirements
- Designing and testing the website
- Analyzing user behavior and improving user experience
Three types of designers
Web designers can be categorized as UX designers, UI designers, and interaction designers. They have different responsibilities.
UX designers
The responsibilities of a UX designer include researching user requirements, designing user flows, creating wireframes and prototypes, conducting usability testing, and optimizing the user experience. UX designers need to comprehensively consider the needs and feelings of the user from their perspective, and satisfy their needs through design to enhance the user experience.
Their deliverable can be different programs that can be displayed, such as user profiles, user journey maps, user flow charts, low-fidelity design drawings (hand-drawn sketches/wireframes), usability testing reports, and research findings.
UI designers
UI designers focus on the user interface of the website. Their work is mainly related to vision effect, including designing the visual interface of the website, organizing the page layout, selecting color schemes and fonts, and designing interactive elements such as scroll bars, buttons, switches, drop-down menus, etc. Their goal is to make applications and websites look appealing, attractive and easy to browse so that users can interact with the interface simply.
The deliverables of UI designers include visual processing like color, text, icons, spacing, typography, brand visual design, and interactive motion design.
Interaction designers
Interaction designers focus on the interaction and feedback between users and websites, which involves how users communicate and operate with the interface. Interaction design is committed to ensuring the smoothness and effectiveness of the user experience, which requires them to consider the user's behavior patterns, psychology, and expectations.
Interaction designers usually develop the overall interaction framework between users and products, including interface layout, functional flow, interaction feedback, etc.
What skills are required
- Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS
- Prototyping and Wireframing
- Marketing and communication design
- User Experience (UX) design and interactive design
- Responsive design
- Page layout
- Typography
- Motion graphics
What tools are used
- Design tools: Adobe XD, Figma, Sketch, etc.
- Prototyping tools: InVision, Axure RP, etc.
- Testing and debugging tools: Chrome DevTools, Firefox Developer Tools, etc.
What Is a Web Developer
Web developers are responsible for building and maintaining websites. They translate the designer's ideas into code and finally create a functional website. Furthermore, they ensure that the website works across browsers and mobile and maintain the security and stability of the website.
What are their responsibilities?
- Develop the layout with HTML and CSS, and then implement JavaScrpt to add some animation effects
- Effectively test and debug website code.
- Write clean and efficient code.
- Update comprehensive software documentation in a timely manner.
- Collaborate with designers and project managers to design a functional website and achieve the project's vision and goals.
Three types of developers
Developers can be divided into front-end developers, back-end developers, and full-stake developers.
Front-end developers
Front-end developers are like artists, using tools such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to make the designer's ideas into reality.
The front end of a website starts with the part that users interact with directly. The graphics, buttons, and interfaces that interact with the website we see are all created by front-end developers.
As a front-end developer, you need to focus on user experience, responsive design, and cross-browser compatibility. Front-end development is about creating the code behind the website above and building an immersive user experience by establishing a framework.
Back-end developers
Back-end development is like the brain of the website, responsible for processing logic, database, and user requests and data.
They mainly focus on the parts that users cannot see, including how to implement functions, data storage, and how to ensure the stability and performance of the website.
For example, when you register an account, your nickname, avatar, and other information will be stored in the backend. The back-end developer is responsible for receiving and storing data, reading the data, and returning it to the front end for display.
Back-end developers have to master languages such as Python and Java, and tools such as Mysql, Oracle, Flask, Spring, etc.
Full-stack developers
Full-stack developers are a combination of front-end and back-end developers.
They know how to design the appearance of a website and can handle complex server and database issues. They can complete the entire development process independently from user interface design to server-side programming.
In addition, they must communicate effectively between the front-end and back-end, understand their respective requirements, and manage the workflow of the two. Full-stack development is an important part of project development.
What skills are required
- Proficient in HTML5/CSS (Front-end)
- Responsive design (Front-end)
- Skilled in some design tools like Figma or Sketch
- JavaScript (Front-end and Back-end)
- Server management and cloud services like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud(back-end)
- Knowledge of Database management, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL(Back-end)
- Expertise in at least one server-side language such as Python, Java, and Ruby. (back-end)
- Understand RESTful services and APIs, as well as experience with GraphQL. (back-end)
- PHP (Front-end and Back-end)
- Testing and debugging (Front-end and Back-end)
- Code versioning (Front-end and Back-end)
What tools are used
- Development tools: Visual Studio Code, Git, Github, etc.
- Front-end development tools: Saas, react, Webpacl, Bootstrap, etc.
- Back-end development tools: Express.js, Laravel, MySQL, etc.
- Testing and debugging tools: Chrome Devtools, Jest, ESLint, etc.
Overlapping Skills and Collaboration between designers and developers
- Responsive design
- User experience
- basic knowledge of HTML/CSS and design principle
Although designers and developers have different responsibilities, there are still some overlapping skills and collaboration.
First of all, both need to have an understanding of responsive design and be familiar with responsive frameworks and media to ensure that the website looks attractive and runs functional on different devices.
In addition, both must grasp the principles of user experience and jointly create a user-friendly, simple, and easy-to-understand interface. It's also important that they understand user flows, accessibility, and usability testing.
Designers can create feasible designs if they know some basic HTML/CSS. Developers need to understand some design principles and know how to use some design tools, such as AdobXD or Figma, so they can appreciate design decisions.
If a designer has some basic knowledge of JavaScript, they can design prototype interactive elements to help developers better understand their expectations. By understanding the expected interactions, developers can better implement and adjust the design.
Example of building a website
Now you have some basic knowledge of these two roles, and then I will show you an example to let you have a further understanding of them. Suppose that you have a company and now you want to build an online shopping website.
UX designers will first conduct user research to understand the target audience, including their shopping habits, needs, and what they are concerned about most. Then, based on the above information, they will determine the user needs and define the functionality and features of the website. Then UX designers will create wireframes to outline the basic structure and layout of the website.
Next, they will work with UI designers and interaction designers to create a website that meets customer's expectations. UI designers will determine the visual elements of the website, such as its color schemes, typography, and imagery. They have to make the design consistent with the brand image and visually attractive. Interaction designers mainly focus on interactive elements and conduct tests to ensure interactions are intuitive and effective.
During this process, UX designers are constantly concerned about user feedback and changes in demand. Finally, they will also conduct usability testing to evaluate the performance and user experience of the online shopping website, and iteratively optimize it based on the test results. We can see some overlapping work between designers.
Then, front-end developers will translate the design into a functional website by using HTML/CSS and JavaScript and make sure the online shopping website is responsive and functional across different devices.
Back-end developers will develop server-side logic and database interactions to handle user requests. They are also responsible for database management and data storage, including user data, orders, and other information. They have to make sure the shopping website works securely and efficiently.
The full-stake developers will handle the whole process of website development and monitor the website's performance. They have to work with designers and developers and ensure all things work together harmoniously.
Conclusion
Designers focus on creating a visual-appealing design and increasing user experience while the developers center on making their creative design into reality and making the website function smoothly.
Knowing some basic knowledge in design and development is of great significance in website building. Designers and developers should understand each other’s challenges and constraints as well as respect for each other's contributions to the project.
As we have mentioned above, both roles are playing a critical role in creating a successful website and application. It is necessary to adopt some collaboration strategy to make our work more easily and smooth.
FAQs
Do designers need to know how to code?
It is not necessary for designers to code, but having a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can be beneficial and helpful. If designers are equipped with such knowledge, they will know the limitations and possibilities of web development, which enables them to create more practical and easier designs for developers to implement.
What are the average salaries for web designers and developers?
The average salary for a web designer in 2024 is around $55,974 per year, with the potential to earn between $40,000 and $82,000 depending on experience and location. Web developers typically earn more, with average salaries of around $78,300 per year, varying from $50,000 to $120,000 based on specialization and experience.
Can one person be both a designer and a developer?
The answer is definitely yes. Some people have skills in both design and development, so they can finish the whole work of building a website, including all designing websites. However, in some larger projects, there are always dedicated designers and developers to work together and improve efficiency, otherwise it would be too much for a person to finish the whole development.
Written by
Kimmy
Published on
Aug 8, 2024
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