Open Source DesignIf you are a designer in open source: What do you wish you learned earlier about being a designer in open source? //jd
mray@opensourcedesign For me it is the immense depth of the chasm separating design & code. 🙄
@mray How did that separation show?
(I think about writing something like "What to expect as designer in open source" and would try to give concrete examples) //jd
(I think about writing something like "What to expect as designer in open source" and would try to give concrete examples) //jd
@opensourcedesign It is more of a general thing, mostly boiling down to inherent power dynamics, the inequality that comes with the fact that designers are two steps more separated from any decision making compared to coders.
It is the fact that you have to rely on a projects ability to handle that whole design/code thing in a productive manner. Projects rarely are equipped to do that.
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@opensourcedesign So the separation is: Opposed to a coder experience you can't just offer a contribution through a merge request.
There are no designers for review, no guidelines or rules, nor designers in general – but there are lots of voices and opinions.
What ironically adds to the separation is a perceived "equality", in the sense of "always appreciating all kinds of contributions" – ignoring the facts above and the reality that designers don't use git, …
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Hylke Bons 🥜@opensourcedesign design less upfront. get to know the people and have a drink with them first.
Blort™ 🐀Ⓥ🥋☣️Explaining which parts of a mockup are placeholders and which parts are the intended design.
It drives me crazy when I post a mockup intended to show some element such as the layout, to have developers knock back the whole concept based on some detail that wasn't even intended to be kept in the final version, such as the color scheme, or placeholder text.
"No, I'm not actually suggesting that lorum ipsum be your new slogan..."
I find that often early drafts that are intended to indicate possible directions of further development, get axed because they don't look polished yet, but spending time on polishing the wrong concept is fundamentally a waste of time.