Last week I received the following question from someone on Twitter:

… If you don’t mind, I wanted to ask you a specific question thats been bothering me for a long time. There are front-end developers and there are UI/UX designers. As I understand it, UI/UX designers come up with how things should look and front-end developers implement their vision. What if I can design and code? What if I want to conceive experiences and implement them? Is it true that most companies don’t encourage that? What would you suggest?

When I read that message, dozens of articles I’d read in the past came to mind. If you search Google, you’ll see that there are tons of articles on the topic of whether designers should learn to code or whether developers should learn to design. All these articles embody different sides of the argument.

Each one of those articles make valid points. However, a recurrent theme among many of these articles is how can a person optimize their skill set to be hired at a company.

This kind of perspective encourages developers and designers to hone their skills, not for themselves, but for companies. And that brings me to my main point: focus on what you enjoy doing and make it part of your craft.