Design Lesson

[Baguirre03]

Complete the following REQUIRED checkboxes:

• [x] I have thoroughly read and understand The Odin Project Contributing Guide

• [x] The title of this issue follows the command name: brief description of request format, e.g. /help: add optional @user parameter

The following checkbox is OPTIONAL:

• [x] I would like to be assigned this issue to work on it

---

1. Description of the Feature Request:

Over my time in the discord, I have seen a good amount of people looking for outside resources for design. Or worried too much about "making their project look good" or question if can go into web development because they don't have an eye for design.

I went ahead and wrote a quick post about it here: https://dev.to/baguirre03/web-developer-designer-5aik I would like to have this be linked in the bot command.

2. Acceptance Criteria:

• [ ] Think if this is a necessary command, and thoughts on the short writeup about it.
• [ ] create bot command

3. Additional Information:

I think this is something that can be addressed in different ways. But my short writeup gives a few tips as well and think it encapsulates the idea + worry that people may have about designing and their projects. Any feedback is greatly appreciated as well :)

[ManonLef]

I like the idea and your write up, but I do have an alternative more elaborate view on this.

I'd personally prefer to see a TOP resource or small lesson on this in the curriculum which we can link to that's a bit more elaborate. I've considered and mentioned wanting to add one for a while but there have been many things that also needed to be done.

Some points I've mentioned on discord that I believe are important to be included. Mainly because they touch every part, from layout, to font and colour choice that people need to design a project, which will be all they need I hope to complete every project and make it look decent. I have a UI/UX connection that showed interest in collaborating on a lesson like that as well from their experience.

So I'm definitely not against it, I just think we could offer more than the insights you've shared in your article.

Would like to hear the opinion of @TheOdinProject/maintainers on this however.

[Baguirre03]

@ManonLef I thought about this as well. I just was unsure if it is something important enough to make it a TOP resource, but I think that a quick resource from TOP or lesson in the curriculum could save learners some time.

I definitely have no UI/UX connection but would still love to be a part of this if it happens. And definitely agree that more can be touched to help people with design. I can also add more points into the article if that is an appropriate action.

[MaoShizhong]

A personally feel even a short bit of lesson time on realistic expectations around design-related matters will really help and reduce the number of people coming into the server and asking about design-based resources/worrying about poor design, and thus reduce the need for people to use a bot command/advise to refer to the right lesson.

Especially since the course is focused on making a web developer out of you and not a web designer, it ought to emphasise and help people realise there's a difference and thus a point at which "design" matters are no longer within the direct scope of a web developer per se.

[01zulfi]

@ManonLef I'm not sold on a UI/UX lesson yet. But knowing you, I'll be convinced eventually lol. I'll suggest to create an issue or a discussion somewhere

[Baguirre03]

@ManonLef , going to start a discussion or issue today regarding this topic. - What do we think of a temporary command while this idea is still being brought about?

[ManonLef]

I don't think we are really in a rush, so I can convert this to a discussion I believe when I'm back at my computer. I don't think this warrants a temporary fix since it's not a priority.

[ManonLef]

@01zulfi I've shared some basics about my ideas on this in the past somewhere with staff. If I ever get to it, I'll link back to that. I don't even think it has to be a whole lesson, perhaps even something written specifically for TOP on dev.to.

I do agree that the general sentiment could be shared somewhere about how much to worry about design. And even though I do see good points in the writeup @Baguirre03 ++ , I do think there might possibly be more nuancing needed than given in the article. I'd rather see a more elaborate discussion and team decision from their experience on where and how to note this in a lesson too if they agree this might be needed. @TheOdinProject/maintainers From my experience it indeed comes up often enough in Discord. But I'd personally rather start at the source to tackle this (the curriculum).

When it comes to cohesive design, the general tips in the article should probably be expanded upon. You've seen my discord posts about this Baguirre, and we spoke about this in the past too on one of my projects I believe. Someone can find a color theme and still be better off not using it, if the basics on how to implement those colours (contrast, matching within the palette, accent colours vs main) aren't clear. But I think we should separate these two concerns for the sake of the discussion: "web design qualities needed or not?", vs "how to improve your website looks if you really want to"

If it's important enough to consider a bot message for, it probably means the curriculum is lacking in this field. In that case we should prioritise that I believe, so those questions are less needed to begin with.

• Should we add a section about the (possibly non-)importance of design qualities in the curriculum?
• Should we in the future also consider a section/article/devto about basic tips to make a website look cohesive without having a design background?
• Will the above make a design bot command still needed or not? (probably evaluate or drop the reference in a bot command either way)

[KevinMulhern]

Very supportive of this. A design lesson/section in the curriculum would be my preference, its a non-brainer for me. Anybody that needs to work with HTML & CSS, will find it a lot easier and more enjoyable with even just a little bit of basic design knowledge in their toolbox.

[Baguirre03]

@ManonLef Should we move this to a curriculum discussion?

[ManonLef]

@Baguirre03 If you don't mind, I'd like to propose an idea on this lesson since I've discussed this with the team (and the discord as you know) in the past in different ways. Once I have it ready, I will ask the team's input. I have most of the layout and idea on paper already and would really like to see if I can also ask the UI/UX designer that offered to collaborate as well and see if they have time.

[Baguirre03]

Sounds good. Closing this.