Nope that isn’t a spelling error, neither is it a word that is in the dictionary, yet.
So now…just what is a Devigner? It’s basically used to describe someone that does not only a Developer but also a Designer, hybrids that have knowledge of both spectrums. He’s basically somewhere in between of the devigner-o-meter! (Picture courtesy of Daqing Lee)
Some are basically capable of coding stuff from scratch, whether its C#, VB, Actionscript, Javascript or any other programming language, they write poems with code and some of them even speak in binaries! From planning the overall user experience of projects, coming up with brilliant designs in Illustrator and Photoshop to slicing and dicing them up into HTML and CSS, thats how devigners tick. They don’t rely much on WYSIWYG interfaces, they’re not challenging enough, devigners rock with manually typing out those line of HTML code and relish having full control of everything from the front-end to the back-end (doubt this happens much in the real world).
Role of Devigners
Developers and designers never speak the same language, as both work on very distinct roles in the creation of applications, the developers deal with the back-end coding and all the awesome business logic and stuff, while the designer does all the front end graphics, animations and the overall user experience of applications. Sometimes, both sides may not have much respect for each other.
The developer might get troubled because the designer doesn’t know how much work it would be to make a textbox with rounded corners that is backward compatible. The designer might not be happy when the developer tells him that due to timing contraints, some of his/her designs (rounded corners?) can’t be implemented as it would take too much time.
It’s in this scenario, where it is recommended to have a devigner, someone that have knowledge in both areas but not to the extent of specializing in both areas, to bridge between two parties. It gets better if the devigner is involved in the planning stages they can provide their insights on dealing with how to bridge the best of both the design and development spectrum.
Devigner? Who?
Now you might question, where do we look for these devigners?
The answer is you, you can be a devigner too. Start spending some time on understanding the other side of the spectrum. If you’re a developer, start learning stuff like on interface design and usability. If you’re a designer, start learning more about programming. Just by knowing a little more, you’ll start to appreciate your brother/sister on the side of the spectrum, and making yourself a step closer into becoming a devigner.
Imagine this, a designer suddenly helps out a developer in coding certain modules, or the developer helping out in touching up certain design elements that are missed out by the designer, both parties will respect each other more, which is plain cool.
The great thing is, you would also know if a developer or designer is telling you that something can’t be done, but have actually lied 
Devigner : Developer + Designer
Mark my words, Devigners will soon be a new term in the industry.
Cheers!
