Role of the Developer

Designer's Job

- The designer uses design software such as Indesign and Photoshop to create the look and design of the website, the design is then put together with coding which then brings the design to life. As the jobs are different the designer can normally work away and separately from the developers, however in some cases they do regularly meet up and discuss the design. As the developer may have a better idea of what can and will work in real life.  

- Sometimes the designer can be the coder and developer as well as some people can do both, which means they can design it and then code as well. 

- The designer's job is usually the most creative and uses both intuition and imagination , the best designers for screen have a strong idea of colour, typography, relationships, audience and user experience. 

Developer's Job

- Sometimes a designer and developer's job can overlap but there are also some very different aspects which are important that sometimes the designer isn't able to do.

- A web developer builds the backbone of websites, typically from the ground up, and knows languages specific to the web. Such as HTML, Javascript, JQuery and CSS. Developers (unless they are also designers), don’t focus on making something look visually appealing but create websites with clean code and that are technically sound.

- Web developers use skills from technical ability, thinking and logic which are an essential part of their repertoires. Web developers may have degrees in a variety of fields such as computer science or programming. 

Working Together

- At the end of the day, both web designers and web developers are working toward a singular goal to create a website or app that entices and attracts users.

- The design and development needs be sound and technically competent. A site needs to not only look good but for the screen to function properly is just as important. The colours and imagery need to reflect the design and the interface needs to encourage user to take a desired action.

- The defined lines between designers and developers are becoming more blurred as more designers are learning to code and more developers are paying close attention to design theory.  We are all beginning to see that the future of the field includes the title of both web designer/developer.

-  One of the toughest parts about web design and development can be working together and communicating in a way that everyone understands. There is so much jargon on each side that it can make working together hard if you don’t consider your words carefully.

Here are a few tips for bridging the communication gap:

• Avoid jargon.
• Show, don’t tell, people how things should look or work. If you don’t know how to explain something, bring a working sketch or example to meetings.
• Be open to ideas. Designers should accept design concepts from developers, and developers should be open to user experience ideas from designers.
• Learn more about how the other part of the web creation process works. Read up about things you don’t know a lot about and ask questions