Developer in charge of Designers

[Takaya213]

Hi All

I was wondering if anybody had ever heard of a company that had a developer in charge of the designers?

I have never heard of this before! Designers and developers have a totally different way of working. That is why a Designer is usually in charge of Designers and Developers are in charge of Developers.

In all the years that i have been working I have never had a Developer be in charge of me the Designer.

This is the new way my boss wants to change things. Hire a Senior Developer to be in charge of both the Designers and Developers.

Thanks for any comments on the subject.

Tak

 

[Syzygy78]

More often than not a Senior Developer has a degree of some kind coupled with alot of experience and should understand the concepts of GUI design, HCI, etc. better than Graphic Designers

 

[sn3rd]

More often than not a Senior Developer has a degree of some kind coupled with alot of experience and should understand the concepts of GUI design, HCI, etc. better than Graphic Designers

Absolutely. It's not uncommon for the design team to put unrealistic ideas on the table. That said, many who work in the design department actually do have qualifications that deal with GUI, etc.

Ideally, you'd want someone with a lot of experience in both departments to lead the team.

 

[FarligOpptreden]

I fully agree with your boss (and the posts above) in putting a senior developer in charge of the designers as well. The developer should know what is realistic or not, both in terms of execution and bandwidth-friendliness.

I am detecting some hostility on your part towards this subject. Are you perhaps one of the designers who now has to report to a senior developer?

 

[Takaya213]

I am both a designer and a developer, I studied development before I decided to go into design. So I have experience in both design and development, where as the new guy only has experience in development and not design.

I am also currently the senior in the Studio section of the company and all the other employees in the studio have only been there for several months apposed to me who has been there for several years now.

The new senior developer hasn't started at the company yet, plus he doesn't know how we work at all, plus he only has a few months more experience than I do.

 

[FarligOpptreden]

I'm in the same position as you - both developer and designer. I manage both the development of our software (web) solution, as well as brochures, business cards or any other marketing collateral we might need. Imho, as developer I have a keener eye for what an end-user might need. As developer, I'll be able to tell the designer what would work on a website or not. As developer, I know the infrastructure upon which the solution will be running. As designer though, I know what looks nice and catches the eye.

Just take that into consideration...

 

[MielieSpoor]

...plus he only has a few months more experience than I do.

That doesn't matter. He can have less experience in years than you, but he may have better experience and still be appointed as you senior. The world isn't fair.

He may have worked on bigger project and those kind of things that might give him the better experience.

And for not knowing you're company, it doesn't take long to figure out how a company works and does things.

Sounds more to me like your a bit upset because you didn't get the position...

 

[Obelix]

Go down on your knees and thank your boss for having the insight to see what is wrong and the balls to fix it. He will make that company a much better place.

Your knowledge of the systems will be a valuable asset to your new manager. Make sure he knows this.

 

[FarligOpptreden]

That doesn't matter. He can have less experience in years than you, but he may have better experience and still be appointed as you senior. The world isn't fair.

He may have worked on bigger project and those kind of things that might give him the better experience.

And for not knowing you're company, it doesn't take long to figure out how a company works and does things.

Sounds more to me like your a bit upset because you didn't get the position...

Yup. I also detected the hostility.