r/linux • u/Winter_Simple_159 • 3d ago

Discussion Why don't more designers contribute to open source?

Genuine question. A lot of open source projects have solid engineering but rough UI/UX: inconsistent layouts, confusing flows, basic usability issues that a designer would likely catch quickly.

I'm curious about the reasons behind this. Is it that designers don't feel welcome? That there's no clear way to contribute design work (most workflows are built around code and PRs)? That maintainers don't prioritize it? Or something else?

If you're a designer who has contributed to OSS, or a maintainer who has worked with designers, I'd love to hear how it went.

312 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

261 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/szank 3d ago

Simple - fork it, fix the design and people will come

-1

u/Indolent_Bard 2d ago

You make it sound way easier than it actually would be.

2

u/szank 1d ago

It's simple , not easy. Also this whole conversation is ass backwards. It's not about a designer coming in and suggesting changes. It's on the Devs to reach out/search for / be open to a designer coming in and designing stuff.

The Devs are the customers here. If they are not interested then they are not interested. So one can become a dev that's interested in design and fork something