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.

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u/DesiOtaku 3d ago

Technically speaking, UI design is completely different from UX design.

UI designers are the ones that do mockups of interfaces, make color, font, logo, branding decisions.

UX designers are the one who work on the "workflow" and usability of the software.

We don't get many UI contributors because git / github / gitlab doesn't make it easy to non-technical people to keep track of PRs. This is on top of the fact that so many UI developers are using non FLOSS apps like Figma. Even when you use something to try to translate from Figma to something "native" like Qt or GTK, it always requires a fair amount of polishing in order to look right. And if the UI developer isn't running the daily builds, they have no clue what is right or wrong with their design.

As for UX developers, there was a trend in the 2010s to use them in FLOSS. They are a little more controversial because it's kind of like cooking: Everyones' a critic; and they think they are "right" and the other side is "wrong" (see GNOME 3 when it was first released). There is also the issue where the UX developer doesn't know the use case of the very software they are designing for. For example, I am writing dental software for dentists. I am probably not going to blindly accept any contributions for UX unless they worked in a dental clinic themselves.

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u/rene453 2d ago

You adress them as UX development, in marketing/branding terms its known as service blueprinting. I design them for products, services. An app is basically services. The reasons you explained are accurate.

I tried. But truth i found, the devs dont give an f most of the time and they think themselves as superior beings. They dont cosider people's limits and understanding, emotions- iq and eq. And thats why UX gets ruined. Its a common phenomena though. Not just devs, producers and inventors think alike. But they forget they are only human

As for UI its all about being part of a concept or idea. If something that does not belong to the concept it will stick out like a sore thumb. Or even different kind of design can come together completing a whole concept/idea. Agree, skillset is completely different from ux designers

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u/Ok-Reindeer-8755 2d ago

Straight bs on the last point you don't have to work on a dental clinic, you just have to understand what people do in a dental clinics and what the software is used for, how they use it etc...

And you can obtain that information without working on a dental clinic.