In this industry, it is easy to find someone who thinks of themselves as a dev or designer of quality. This could be because of them being fortunate enough to work on high-profile clients, a certain number of years experience, being better than the majority people you’re around, or by just a feeling of self-importance. The route took to identifying yourself with being of quality doesn’t matter, all that is important that you think you are. Now, I want to ask a real question…
How many of us are actually designers of quality?
The resounding answer should be that it is dreadfully less than what someone would imagine. Being in an industry where there really aren’t any entrance barriers, besides being willing to work hard, is beautiful. However, there is a bad side effect to it. This being that anyone could just enter, learn how to do things, and be able to pass themselves off as a professional of quality. What is being of quality in our industry anyway? Is it being able to effectively solve problems? Is it merely a matter of having enough years behind you in the industry? Well, none of these things deal with being of quality.
Well then, what does?
I’ll let you know. To be a person of quality in this industry is to be a developer who can take 100 lines of code, and turn it into a functional and clean 30. Being able to write out code that not only gets the job done, but also is clear and simple enough to follow along that any developer would have no trouble picking it right up. To be of quality is to understand that there is a certain standard that must be met whenever writing one line of code, let alone over 20.
To be a designer of quality is to be able to understand the end-user, and the desires of the client, while still producing an outcome that satisfies your own aesthetic desires as well as theirs. Being able to communicate an entire message, with only the simple selection of a color scheme.
So what is your opinion on the industry?
My views are that somewhere along the line of all the income generating potential this industry has now blossomed, actually being someone of quality matters a lot less. Especially when considering how easy it is to get someone to believe you are of quality, since there is either none or a very low criteria to judge from.
So for all you false claimers of being creatives of quality, being good, or talking down to any other member of our industry, you are better described as the scum of the industry that makes it harder for people who actually have a deep desire to grow everyday in this field. The ones who spend hours upon hours going over one line of code in their head because their besides themselves with is this the cleanest way to do this.
What makes a professional of quality in our industry to you?