The arrogance of design.
First off the thoughts below are constructed around stereotypes. If you are against stereotypes then there is no need to read on ;) In my opinion stereotypes can be a useful tool in interacting with people. The catch is to not let stereotypes impact your ability to give someone a chance. Now on to the good stuff…
I have met a lot of types of designers in my life. Many of them have had a common thread even though their fields of expertise have been wildly different. This thread is an air of arrogance. This is not to say that all or even most of them have this trait, but instead that a large “per capita” ratio does. I have often ponder why this phenomenon occurs and today I came up with my own hypothesis. Design is intoxicating, particularly a successful design.
In a broad definition design could be viewed as an outward expression of a solution to any given problem. The important part of this thought is that it is outward. This is to say that the audience(customer) can see the design in action, be it an interaction or some graphics that build a “feel” or “attitude”. This is in contrast to something like development where the user doesn’t see or consider the results of the hard work (unless it is broken). As a designer when the application is a success it is easy to take it personal.
Think of if in terms of “buzz.” Most of the time when people talk about how great a product is they say things like “It is so easy to use” or “I love the way it looks.” Rarely do you hear someone discuss how well it was developed or how there isn’t any bugs in it.
Even when the reverse happens and a product is deemed a failure it is often blamed on the design, not the construction.
The interesting part is that none of it would be possible if someone didn’t have the amazing amounts of knowledge to build it (be it by code or content). This alone should humble any designer. But some how this concept continues to be lost on many in the design community. Perhaps it is because many designers have never taken the time to learn how to develop the rest of the items needed to make a great application.