276: Hidden Shortcuts, Formal Educations, and "Builders"

This week, we answer three listener questions: one about hidden shortcuts, one about the line between designer and developer, and one about the necessity of a design degree. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a trailer a few people have seen and a channel that make videos about speedrun progressions.

Listener Questions

Race Swisher says: "You guys should talk about hidden shortcuts that can be super confusing for users."

Article: "This iOS 12 Keyboard Trick for Non-3D Touch iPhone Users is Going Viral"
iOS:

In the keyboard, 3D Touch anywhere on the keys to move your cursor freely

Gboard for iOS has a phenomenal swipe-typing feature, in addition to many other nice little time-savers

In the keyboard, drag from the 123 button to a key in the alternate keyboard, then release to return to the ABC keyboard
In the keyboard, long-press on keys for additional character options
In the iPad keyboard, drag the Dismiss Keyboard button to split and reposition the keys
In the keyboard, double-space for a period followed by a space
On the home screen, 3D Touch app icons for quick actions (in supported apps)
On iPhone X, swipe down on the Home Indicator to trigger Reachability (Settings > General > Accessibility > Reachability On)
In Tweetbot, two-finger swipe vertically to switch between Day/Night mode
In Google Maps, double-tap-and-drag vertically to zoom
In Spotify, swipe horizontally to go to the previous/next track
In Spotify, tap the Search tab a second time to bring up the keyboard and focus the Search field
In Spotify, long-press the Search tab to start a voice search
In Tweetbot, long-press-and-drag to reassign the last two tabs
In Safari, type in the address bar and scroll down the autocomplete suggestions to Find in Page
In Safari, long-press on the Refresh button to Request Desktop Site
In Safari, long-press on the Tabs icon to create a New Tab or Close All Tabs
In Control Center, 3D Touch-and-drag on certain platters for pre-defined options (Timer, Flashlight, Camera)
In Messages, 3D Touch on avatars in the list for quick actions (Call, FaceTime, Pay, Contact Details)

macOS:

[Mojave] At any time, press Cmd+Shift+5 for more detailed screenshot options
At any time, press Cmd+Opt+Shift+3 or 4 to send the screenshot to your clipboard
At any time, press Cmd+Space for Spotlight
In a text field, press Cmd+Ctrl+Space for the Emoji picker, and type to search by emoji name
At any time, press Cmd+Tab to switch to your most recent app, or continue holding Cmd and press Tab again to move forward or ~ (or Shift+Tab) to move backward through the list
In applications with multiple windows, press Cmd+~ or Cmd+Shift+~ to navigate between windows
In Chrome, press Cmd+Opt+Left or Right (or Cmd+Shift+[ or ]) to navigate between open tabs (or Cmd+1 through 0 to jump straight to one of your first ten tabs)
In a text field, press Cmd+[ or ] to adjust the indentation

Colin Lees asks: "What kind of design-related education do you (or your peers) tend to have? Is there a case for designers with no formal education at all?"

Our answer: Having a college degree, regardless of focus, can be a signal to employers that you're more likely to be a responsible, knowledgeable person, but it's not necessary to get a job, as long as you can show that you know your shit. And getting a degree in HCI or Interaction Design is a great way to gain knowledge and get a head-start on good processes, but again, it's unnecessary, as long as you've learned those same lessons on your own.

Sam Chang asks: "Something that's been on my mind lately is the overlap between a designer and a developer. I've noticed, for example, that Brian has taken on more of a developer role at Spectrum, and so I'm curious to hear if Brian sees himself as more of a designer or a developer, or maybe just a builder?"

Our answer: Should designers code? Ultimately, having an understanding of what your developers do every day will help you to be a better designer, and vice versa. So learning how to write code, especially in the same language your colleagues use, can help build empathy and a better understanding of what happens after your mocks are finalized. As the line between "designer" and "developer" continues to blur, maybe the term "builder" is a nice middle ground.

One Cool Thing:

Marshall shared Summoning Salt, a YouTube channel that makes videos about the progression of world record speedruns for some classic games

Some good ones: Super Mario Bros. - World 4-2, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda, and Portal

Brian shared "Marvel Studios' Avengers - Official Trailer, the trailer for the latest film in the Avengers series

Jeff Cannata's "Unsullied" philosophy encourages one to avoid trailers (and spoilers in general) in order to more fully enjoy one's movie-going experience
Video: "Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War Official Trailer" did a good job of not giving too much away

Design Details on the Web:

We are @designdetailsfm

Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are

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BYEEEEEEE!