I would say YES. But as it is so often with these things: it depends – on your personal preference.
For sure, you can be an excellent UX and UI designer without being able to read or write any line of code. But if you understand these kind of things it will help you a lot during your design processes and also with your team communication.
What should you know about?
Some basics
It’s good if you have or learn some basics about HTML and CSS. You will be surprised how fast and easy it is. It’s not rocket science, however, it will help you immensely when it comes to understanding how “the internet” basically works.
What makes it even easier are frameworks like Bootstrap, with which you can quickly create responsive designs.
Javascript and Libraries
Javascript makes things even more flexible and it helps you a lot if you understand this (even a little bit). You get an understanding of what happens how, why and when, for example, when you visit a website. In addition, there are dozens of frameworks and libraries that make it easier to transform apps from design into code and thus into a real product. These include, for example, react or Vue JS.
Why should you learn to code?
3 reasons for coding
1️⃣
You get a feeling for how complex software engineering can be. This helps you to better estimate the effort for the implementation of your design and also whether it is feasible at all with the given conditions.
2️⃣
You and the developers speak the same language, use the same terms and understand each other much better. In this way you can avoid misunderstandings in communication right from the start.
3️⃣
If you want to implement prototypes yourself, the basics of coding will help you to get tests up and running faster. This way you are more independent from developers who might be busy with actual implementation.
How deep is your love to coding? 🤍
I did a 6-month online coding bootcamp in 2019 and was fit enough to participate in the women++ hackathon for women afterwards. You can find my story of learning how to code on Medium. Currently I am getting my hands on Python – easy to learn and sooo helpful when it comes to data analysis.
Are you a UX designer with or without any basic coding skills? What is your experience regarding this topic?
I would be happy if you would share your experiences with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.