37 Signals: “Why we skip photoshop”

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Somehow I ended up on the 37 Signals blog last night and found an article where the folks over there stated why Photoshop is a waste of time. The short of it is that a design phase in Photoshop takes away the focus from function and diverts that focus to form- a form that isn't necessarily possible, reviewable, and functional once implemented. Another point that he mentions is that Photoshop isn't collaborative by nature. That's fine but the last time we showed wireframe comps to a client they said, "what now?" A design pass by a web-intelligent designer, who understands how a design is implemented is a necessary step in the success of a project. Client's like to see how their brand is integrated into the functionality of their project. In regards to collaboration- no tool is, by nature, collaborative. Some things like this and this take more than one person, but it doesn't mean it is collaborative. Collaboration is created by the team using the tools. Solid IA and creative together enhance the user experience, at the very least aesthetically, and sometimes functionally.

by Connor Swegle 11.05.2008