Hacker News Reader

Comment by nbzso | Hacker News Reader

Design is dead. Cheap, colourful, childish trash, non usable, non accessible is the trend. After 20 years of practice as a designer I now sell my expertise only on implementation - UI engineer. For me this is the last place of craftsmanship. Everything else from UX to Visual design is in the hands of marketing and wannabe decorators.

View on HN

Design is not a thing that can die. It will exist for as long as the human race does. And so will shallowness, tastelessness, ignorance, self importance, agendas and marketing turkey cocks. Don't mix them together my friend, cheer up.

Exactly. Design is dead? Have they ever architected anything in code? That's design, you created a structure that meets some goal. Design is not visual art.

Stop with visual art nonsense. Read "20 years". If you have assumption that in this time I don't know the difference, I am sorry. It happens that some of us have managed and created real products, not some figma mockups.

Your design structure will be affected by dark patterns soon or a later. I think that you don't have enough experience to comment on the situation at all. Marketing will have access to your design process eventually. Then we will speak again.

Not sure what you're implying, I've created and sold "real products" to the tune of millions of dollars in revenue. I think I have "enough experience to comment on the situation." Weird to have such an accusatory tone when speaking on HN.

Sorry for my reaction. It is direct result of your assumption about me and my professional expertise. Visual language is the smallest of the problems in design today. Thats why I have a term for todays designers - Decorators. When your role as a designer is limited to visual language - your results are just another "fancy dress" to be thrown away in the next product iteration.

The most important thing in design is honesty. Between honesty and function we have a newborn child of the Greed - dark patterns. Look around - it's everywhere. Thats why Design is dead. It is not dead as an idea. Idea of design will never die. Engineers don't care about design en masse. Thats why we have products with lack of uniqueness and the argument is that this is good for the user - it reduces cognitive overload. This is argument made by engineers for engineers. Using low quality "decorators" in production creates another argument - there is no designers that can create long term quality. No. We exist. But when you spend your entire life to become the best in your craft you cannot sell expertise for peanuts. :) Some of us are long in this game, an we have real production knowledge. Some of us can code enough to know when engineers are "over their heads" and follow self-serving decision models.

What I'm saying, out of sympathy, is that you should consider a higher perspective. Maybe it's lack of care, just as an example, and maybe it's prejudice with reasons far beyond your control or sheer ignorance and so on. Now your writing gives of the feeling of things being muddled up in your head, not understood to the end, "clouded by emotion!" ;) Gotta snap out of it or you'll spent years malding like many do.

Thank you for your "sympathy". I don't need to "snap out" of any problem.:) I share facts. Dark Patterns and low quality design is everywhere. But don't think for a second that I will not take my money. Too long in the Game to hate the Players. But too long also to "shut up" without any resistance.

It's not dead, it's just hiding. Design has retreated into a cave and is occasionally peeking out at what foolishness we have wrought for its amusement, laughing maniacally. One day, Design will return, and we will feel very foolish indeed, and then all will be righted again in the software world.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com