Designing in the browser - why I was wrong

A few months ago I talked about designing as a developer and how designing in the browser is a perfectly valid way of designing websites.

I was wrong.

I've been learning how to design websites using Figma in order to provide a better experience for clients.

I now realise, after working with the software myself, that I've always taken it for granted when others created designs for me.

I've especially noticed one thing: It's easier to design something when all you have to think about is how it should look.

I'm still learning Figma, which means this isn't entirely true as along with thinking about the design I'm also thinking about how figma works and how to design things in the correct way. This will get easier with more practice.

But the more comfortable I get with figma, the less I'm having to think about it and that's just not true about coding.

When designing while coding it's much harder to separate the different processes, and as design and development use different parts of our brain it's even harder to consistently switch between creative (design) and logical (development) thinking.

Desiging in the browser is possible and I've done it before, but what I've realised through practice is most of the time it's not the best approach.

So I'm going back on what I said before. I now think that if you have the capacity to do so, you should learn how to use a design too like figma in order to create real designs yourself. The focussed approach will probably improve the designs you create.