Snappy the Clam

It is my very great hope that Boxes and Arrows can be that place. A place for designers—who think design is more than pretty font colors—to exchange ideas. A place for programmers—who realize the elegance of code means nothing if people can’t use your application—to learn to make their interface just as elegant. A place for marketers—who know that click-throughs are no good if people click away a second later—to sort out what really creates brand loyalty. A place for information architects, interaction designers, information designers and interface designers to come together with the UXs and EDs and HCIs and build a discipline that will make a difference.

You know, I don't mean to ncessarily pick on these people, but already this reeks of Designer Hubris. You'll notice that everybody she addresses -- except the designers -- doesn't so much have something to contribute as they have something they can learn. From designers. I need to have design understanding to write good software. Designers need to have engineering understanding to design within the parameters of the technically feasible. What this means is that doing mockups in Photoshop and then handing it off to HTML grunts is irresponsible, especially if you have no understanding of HTML. I know that geeks can sometimes be entirely unconscious to the nuances of design, sometimes arrogantly so, but there's more than enough typography-minutiae Flash-coolness-worshipping elitism to go round in the design camp as well.