As you know the last phase of the UX design process
culminates in static visual mockups or clickable prototypes.
These methods give us a good idea about
the functionality and the look and feel of our website,
but they are obviously not the final product.
Prototypes are great but they are
no actual websites that users can visit in their browsers.
A functioning website needs to be coded.
HTML, CSS and JavaScript are the main technologies that make the web work.
So, the question is,
do web designers need to know how to code?
Before answering this question,
let me ask a few others.
Does a photographer and need to know how a camera works?
Does a painter need to make their own paint or paint brushes?
Does it print designers need to know how an offset printing press functions?
I'm not sure if there's a clear cut answer here,
but we can probably say that knowing more about one's profession is usually better.
I can certainly imagine an amazing painter who
doesn't have a clue how pains or brushes are made,
but I can also imagine a painter who in the process of making their own tools,
discovers a whole new way of working and creates a new kind of arts.
But coming back to the question at hands,
what about coding skills for web designers,
how important are they?
Well, web technologies, HTML, CSS,
and JavaScript are the medium for web designers.
So, quite literally in order to create custom websites yourself,
you need to know these technologies.
Sure, there are plenty of website builders that allow you to customize
templates and create competent websites without writing a single line of code,
but you will always be at the mercy of what the templates allow you to do and even when
working with templates it is often necessary to write a few lines of custom CSS code.
Of course, the other solution is to consult experts,
you can collaborate with a front-end designer who will
transform your beautiful design into a functioning website.
This separation of work is very common when
you work with bigger teams on complex projects,
and most web design studios have designated designers and developers.
But even if you don't develop the websites you design,
having a basic understanding of coding will make you a better web designer.
Fundamental coding knowledge will help you to understand
the affordances and limitations of the web as a medium.
Knowing what is possible and what isn't with
the current state of technology is quite important,
and knowing how to code also empowers you to make things.
On smaller self-initiated projects,
you won't have to rely on outside help.
You'll also be able to communicate better with developers.
Knowing some basics will even give you a better chance to argue
your point if a developer ever tells you that something just isn't possible.
Finally, certain web design challenges like animations,
state changes and responsive layouts are quite difficult to mock up with static tools.
Sometimes it's easier to jump into code to explore an idea.
Maybe the answer to our question is this,
you don't need to code but it's helpful to know how to code.
The good news is that the fundamental web technologies are quite easy to learn,
you can get a basic understanding of HTML and a few hours,
and CSS can be learned in a few days and mastered within a few months.
In fact, the reason the web took off and became so
popular in the mid 90s was partly due to
the fact that it was so easy for people who weren't
computer programmers to make their own websites.
My advice for you is, try it out,
take an intro course to web coding,
experiment a little bit.
If it isn't for you,
you will have learned enough to be able to communicate and collaborate
with developers better and you can still be an awesome UX designer,
but you might realize that you have a knack for coding.
You might find it really fun and empowering to code your own websites. Who knows?
You might one day become a true unicorn designer,
a designer who knows how to code.