From dc6db80fa72286704849ef61ee0e5ccb5841cb09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bradley Taunt Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 14:28:49 -0400 Subject: Conversion to barf for testing purposes --- _posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md | 65 ------------------------------------ 1 file changed, 65 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 _posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md (limited to '_posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md') diff --git a/_posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md b/_posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md deleted file mode 100644 index 97561c5..0000000 --- a/_posts/2019-09-28-being-efficient.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,65 +0,0 @@ ---- -layout: post -title: "Being More Efficient as a Designer and Developer" -date: 2019-09-28 ---- - - -*I recently began working on a small side project* (a marketing site / blog for an upcoming UX book I'm writing, but I have nothing to promote yet - sorry) and found myself circling around different static site generators (SSG) in the initial design concepts. The thought of learning an entirely new blogging platform was inspiring and seemed like a good excuse to expand my skillset. - -Although I've used 11ty and Hugo in the past for client work, this personal website runs on Jekyll. I'm very familiar with Jekyll and can push out a point-of-concept site in a flash with little-to-no effort. So, why was I looking to jump into a SSG I hadn't used before? - -And that got me thinking... **Why am I moving away from being efficient?** - -## Before we begin... - -I should preface everything else I'm going to mention in this post with this: *learning new stuff is awesome*. You should expand your knowledge as much as you can, no matter what industry you find yourself in. I've found it to be a great catalyst for boosting my passion in design and development. - -Okay, I've made it clear that learning is important to the growth of your career - so please keep that in mind before you read my next statement: - -**Just use what you already know.** - -By using your current experience (maybe even expertise) with a design system, CSS framework, blogging platform, programming language, etc. you can get something *built*. Not to mention you can get that thing built in a *fraction of the time*. After all, building things is kind of the point of being a designer (or developer), right? - -My current side project may be a slight edge case in this regard. Since it's a personal "dev" website, most of the tech stack choices comes down to personal preference - not client requirements. But I believe my point still remains: you shouldn't reach for something new and shiny *just because* it's new and shiny. - -## Some vague examples - -It might be easier to understand what I mean by using some possible real-world examples: - - -| Problem | New Way | Efficient Way | -|---------|---------|---------------| -| A local bakery needs product and e-cart functionality | Learn a new custom ecommerce platform | Use a popular pre-existing library you're familiar with | -| Create an add-on blog for a medical clinic | Try a custom built static site generator and hook in a git-based CMS | Spin up a quick WordPress site and hand-off | -| UI mockups for a workout iOS app | Test out the newest design tool just released | Use your go-to default design tool you (Sketch, Figma, etc) | - - -I know all of this is very much "common sense", but you would be surprised how often we reach out for the latest and greatest tools (we are creative problem-solvers, after-all). If a current project allots you the time to learn a new skillset alongside outputting a quality product - then more power to you. In my experience that's a rare luxury, so my advice is to focus on shipping quality work (whether that's code, design, analytics, content, etc) instead of getting caught up in the "new and shiny". - -## But wait, how / when do I learn new things? - -It isn't exactly ground breaking to state that you should keep things simple as a developer. There are probably hundreds of posts on the web advocating for the exact same thing - which is good. At the same time, we as designers and developers need to avoid stagnation - something that can happen all too easily. - -So how do we learn new things? This is a hard thing to answer. Really, the best response would be: **it depends on the designer / developer**. I know, *what a cop-out*. Unfortunately, it's true. There is no one solution to learning anything new. - -The best I can do is offer up some possible options: - -- Learn outside of work - - Reading / listening to a technical book on your commute or before bed - - Take an online course you can work on after hours - -- Contribute to an open source project that you aren't familiar with but are interested in - - Even tiny contributions go a long way, don't doubt yourself so much - -- Ask your current company (if not a freelancer that is) to learn on their time - - It's a valid argument that your company should have vested interest in you becoming a better developer / designer - -## Easier said than done - -Sometimes, even the suggestions above don't work for certain individuals. Life is hectic and other important things can pop-up taking precedence. Don't let it get you down - there are more important things in life than mastering the newest framework that released 25 minutes ago. - -My motto is to keep shipping quality products that you actually give a shit about. Otherwise it doesn't matter how "new" it is. - - - -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf