Podcast Season 1 · Episode 8
Design for Developers
Are you struggling to become a designer for web development? You don''t need formal web development training to be successful. Learn from the design group at OST how each of them found a path into design, coming from several different backgrounds.

Questions
- I noticed you studied Industrial design. How did you find your way to UX or Interaction design?
- From the team to the community, are there patterns you see in each?
- Opinions on education paths…bootcamps vs. institutions vs. workshops.master’s programs
- Do you need formal education around UX/UI?
- What advice would you give to others coming out of school and how to get started into the design side of a web development practice?
- Resources, tools?
- If someone not going to school wants to get started, how do you get in the door first?
- Networking – reaching out to people you admire
- Soft Skills (importance of consulting and speaking skills)
- Where does your community hang out? Especially after 2020?
- Meeting community where they platform
- Why do people thrive in communities?
- What communities exist or are accessible?
Clubhouse, Meet ups (local and online), AIGA, IxDA Community events (Code for Good / Givecamp, Global Service Design Jam, Courses / Co-Learning) / Ladies of UX / - What should a designer learn today?
Attitude & aptitude – curiosity & willingness to learn Mentor / find leaders to learn from Online, self-driven learning (courses, youtube, google) - Tools? Sketch, Figma, Miro, Adobe Products
- Designers often work together and collaborate, how did this change in 2020?
- At work?
Miro, drawing messy, white board type work. - A developer can do the work, but often they need to be led down the path. Do you see this as a designers role, or more of an architect’s role?
- Are mobile designers different from web designers?
(platform agnostic?) Multi-modal Physical Design, Interactive Points, how do you manage expectations. - What is hardest about being a designer?
- What is hard about getting started.
(Constraint, confidence & expression), non-stop pitching - How can you be creative, but still need to work within a framework?
Constraints are helpful, Design systems - What Physical devices are you using?
iPad / Wacom Tablet, Old school – Sticky notes / Whiteboard / sketchbook - Where can designers get started on the side, for freelance work? Dribbble, Pinterest, Fiverr, Instagram, 99designs, Awwwards
Picks
Alex Patterson: Config: Figma's Annual Conference
Brittney Postma: Adobe Wire Frame Podcast
Brittney Postma: Sackboy (game)
Christy Ennis-Kloote: Peter Merholtz & JessieJames Garret – Finding our way (podcast)
Christy Ennis-Kloote: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Zoë Wilson: The Design Better Podcast
Zoë Wilson: Headspace (app)
Elizabeth Bush: Squads - the global full-stack development community