Like the author, I went into computer systems engineering though in around 1995, and then bailed because I wanted to design with computers, not design the computers themselves. Should've read the abstract a bit better, huh? I quit and have worked for myself over the 25+ years since, and similarly straddled design and development up until recently.
Something I've found challenging is that in my projects and pricepoints, it's felt like there is no time for craft. Always harried, always spread thin. Never enough budget to do much more than burn through code. And working with clients who barely know what they expect, so it's hard to confidently spend time on design polish while the chance of concepts being rejected on a whim seems quite random. I'd be the first to accept that these are likely self-inflicted situations through misguided quoting/positioning and lazy process.
I have many side projects, and craft is a difficult thing there too. We typically preach getting product in front of people as soon as possible, to hone from there. But when, as an individual or small team, do you get time to absolutely polish your login screen, as one example? You're generally adding requested features or fixing pain points. I see a login screen from Stripe or similar and think of the teams and meetings and testing that probably went into it. Obviously as smallfry, we can take a shortcut and copy what they've settled on, but that's not exactly craft.
Something I've found challenging is that in my projects and pricepoints, it's felt like there is no time for craft. Always harried, always spread thin. Never enough budget to do much more than burn through code. And working with clients who barely know what they expect, so it's hard to confidently spend time on design polish while the chance of concepts being rejected on a whim seems quite random. I'd be the first to accept that these are likely self-inflicted situations through misguided quoting/positioning and lazy process.
I have many side projects, and craft is a difficult thing there too. We typically preach getting product in front of people as soon as possible, to hone from there. But when, as an individual or small team, do you get time to absolutely polish your login screen, as one example? You're generally adding requested features or fixing pain points. I see a login screen from Stripe or similar and think of the teams and meetings and testing that probably went into it. Obviously as smallfry, we can take a shortcut and copy what they've settled on, but that's not exactly craft.
Maybe when I retire I'll have time.