Web Developer vs Web Designer

What is the difference between a Web Developer vs Web Designer? This is a difficult question to answer when it comes to the different roles within or between companies as the role can encompass a wide range or a very limited scope. However, generally speaking, one can differentiate between these two roles and understand how they differ but at the same time compliment one another.

A Web Designer, to consider that role first, is someone who is basically involved in designing the website in a way that would be best for their consumers. So a Web Designer needs to work closely with the User Researchers to understand what the consumers really want so to make sure that the design elements that you wish to put on the website is relevant. Therefore, the web designer works more on the front end of the website as opposed to the backend.

The Web Developer on the other hand works on the technical side of the development process where the developer has to consider what the designers have decided to come up with. The developers have to consider closely the exact way that the designers have decided how the website should look, feel and operate as. In other words, they have to ensure that not just the technical things such as speed have to be considered, but exactly what does the designer want the website to do.

Therefore a web developer does work pretty much on the backend of the enterprise where they code the website. Therefore most of the software that a web developer must learn is programming languages that are necessary to develop a website. On the other hand, web designers have to learn other software such as Illustrator that is more aligned towards the design elements necessary for that relevant task.

However, it must be noted that in a small company these roles could be combined into one where the web designer and the developer are the same person. In this case the person would essentially have to work directly with the user researchers to understand, then design and then develop the website. This can be seen to be a good thing as this person would be quite efficient, but there are problems that may rise with regard to too much work. In a bigger company these roles could be even further split or where there will be multiple web designers and developers who will work together even on a single website.