Why Developers Also Need Design Inspiration

I have always been a fan of that thin line between web design and development. It’s always been exciting to cross it any time an opportunity comes and makes us dip our toes in uncharted waters.

After years of working in the front line of web development, I’ve learned some valuable design lessons that allowed me to find that every day it’s becoming more important for developers to boost our design skills in order to keep up with the industry and fill any related talent gap.

The Value of Inspiration

As far as I can remember, designers have always used visual inspiration to ignite their creativity. It simply seems like the natural thing to do. Great designers keep their technique up to date and take in loads of inspiration to create new and exciting work.

Design inspiration makes up such an important part of the internet, that in every corner we are able to find new projects filled with fresh illustration, branding, user interfaces and interactions, to name a few.

The only problem is that many developers have seen this habit of surfing through visual inspiration as something totally unrelated to our work. The truth is that design is indirectly an important part of what we do, so keeping those skills fresh has become a must-have.

In my personal experience, the best way to keep our design chops sharp is by taking daily doses of visual inspiration, just like designers do.

Key Benefits for Developers

Great inspiration requires dedication

Finding the right sources and working valuable time into your schedule can only be accomplished with great sacrifice. So it’s important to know the rewards that can come from such efforts:

Enhancing collaboration

Digital projects require multi-disciplinary teams to work closer every time and a seamless collaboration between all parties is essential.

Since design professionals are known to be up to date on the latest industry trends, it has become necessary for their tech counterparts to be on the same page. When all members of the team approach a project share common references and examples of work, it is more likely to yield better collaboration. If a developer can anticipate some of the ideas that are coming his way, he will surely have a clear approach on the execution and techniques to use.

Pushing boundaries

When developers focus only on technical skills, they’re more likely to keep a closed mindset when new ideas are presented.

It’s not uncommon to hear a developer replying “that can’t be done” to his creative peers. That’s simply a natural reaction when being caught off guard upon a problem that has not been solved before. The best way to approach this scenario is by having an open mind when it comes to creative input.

Developers who include design inspiration in their diet are more likely to be one step ahead. Seeing shiny out-of-the-box ideas can be a trigger for investigating the techniques to accomplish such ideas.

Adding value to the project

Highly efficient teams take pride in having ideas coming from all of their members, even from the ones we might least expect.

During the early days of the internet, teams where pretty much black and white regarding the creative types and the tech guys. But in recent years we’ve seen these sides come together closer than ever and it is now completely normal to see designers provide input on some aspects of a project’s development. This is only possible when a team’s creatives have a certain level of tech knowledge.

Although it’s not as common to see developers provide design input, a well-informed coder can have a more logical approach to many aspects of a design. This can lead to more efficient work, but it is only possible when developers take a true interest in the creative side of the projects they’re involved with.

Unlocking potential

As myself, I know of many developers who have creative skills but have put them aside to focus on their logic-based career. But working on multi-disciplinary teams can be an opportunity to dust off some of those skills and putting them to use.

A constant flow of visual inspiration can trigger a developer into expanding his skill set and becoming more valuable to the team. Having a basic set of design skills can help coders become less dependent when it comes to making important decisions in crucial moments of a project.

Any developer that has the ability to choose a color for a rollover state, or to adjust a layout for a mobile view, can save the day in any company.

Where to Find Design Inspiration

For me, design inspiration has become an important part of my career and human capital, and it fuels that special ingredient that gives my work a bit of a boost. On a daily basis, not only do I check out the latest websites, but I also find myself inspired by fresh animations, patterns, interactions and even typography.

Although there are places where you can get an unlimited dose of inspiration, I’ve always been a fan of those who curate and filter the best content out there.

My personal favorites are:

• Going over Muzli Blog’s UI Interactions of the Week is a great way to see beautiful interfaces come to life
• Checking The FWA’s Live Judging and Awwward’s Latest Collections to see the best web design out there
• Browsing Smashing Magazine’s inspiration tag feed always caters some great articles
• For many years, Swiss-Miss has been a source for all things design, where you can find inspiration in photography, products, links and even quotes.
• The curated Interaction Gallery in Behance always showcases amazing work