What does a degree in computer science get you? In my case, a single technical interview that you’ll absolutely and utterly fail. For a long time, code didn’t seem like it was my thing. But once I began studying design, I realized that code was extremely useful even if I wasn’t an expert in it. I could use code to make interactive and generative experiences — things that felt uniquely performative, sort of like theatrical performances on a computer screen. In this chapter, I’ll share stories of how I finally learned to use code after struggling for years and make it a fundamental part of my creative practice.
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It was difficult to find any education in coding before college, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I discovered a kind of kid-friendly, fake “code” that let me make games and animations. It was tons of fun. In college though, code wasn’t just code — it was computer science. And computer science was not fun. It wouldn’t be until grad school that I discovered how real-world code could be fun, too.
I haven’t finished this story yet, but I will. When it’s finished, I’d love to meet you back here so that I can share it with you.
The goals of a designer using code versus a coder using code are miles apart. That became clear studying code at RISD, and even more clear teaching code at RISD. Designers, for the most part, don’t want to become developers. In practice, that means designers learn code in ways that are sometimes wrong or incomplete, but still useful. And to a designer, code just needs to be useful.
I haven’t finished this story yet, but I will. When it’s finished, I’d love to meet you back here so that I can share it with you.
Even now, there are enormous gaps in coding education at all levels of study. That means that to learn code, you have to be ferociously self-sufficient. At RISD, I took every project as an excuse to learn something new. I could even follow a train of thought through several completely unrelated projects in a row and mark how each skill led to the next, like an unofficial curriculum.
I haven’t finished this story yet, but I will. When it’s finished, I’d love to meet you back here so that I can share it with you.
When we create work in design school, we often end up creating work for the fabricated audience of our peers and teachers. And so, we create work that might look like it’s for someone, but is really for nobody. While code can be just like this, code also lets us create things that demand an audience — things like interactive experiences. And interactive, easily-distributed experiences are extremely relevant to the outside world.
I haven’t finished this story yet, but I will. When it’s finished, I’d love to meet you back here so that I can share it with you.