The topic I’ve been researching for my limited research review is DIY design and I’ve been reading the pros and cons by various designers over the past few weeks. While I’ve been reading I find myself trying to decide which side I agree with more. When I initially started my research my bias was leaning towards against DIY design and I had to consciously remind myself to stay open minded. Then over the weekend I was clicking around on Adobe’s website looking at the new software they’ve released and came across Adobe Muse. It’s a tool for designers to create websites using the tools they are used to (Photoshop and InDesign) and create websites without having to write any code; Adobe Muse takes care of all of the coding for you. I thought “Wow! This seems great, I can’t wait to use it.”
As I was watching the videos about the software’s features, they kept using terms like “Muse does it for you” or “There’s no need to worry about coding.” I started to think of all of the great projects I was going to use this for and how much easier it was going to make my job now that I don’t have to worry about all that code. Then I stopped in my tracks and realized is this a form of DIY? The Adobe videos were using very similar phrases as the DIY articles I’ve been reading. I could hear the developers in our company that always get frustrated when I use the code-help features in Dreamweaver and they sit down with me and show me how it should really be written. What would they think of Adobe Muse?
We have the DIY debate heavily in the graphic design profession, but rarely look at ourselves as DIY users in another field. I’m a design professional, and that’s what I’ve always thought of myself – a professional. Does a developer get just as frustrated with a designer that is claiming experience in a development field with the help of a DIY tool? And is something like Adobe Muse considered DIY? I look forward to asking our development team this week!