Who should decide UI?

Source: Dev.to

TL;DR

You should go with the designers’ solution because they design for users, not programmers.

Why Designers Lead UI Decisions

• Developers work daily with complex tools, terminals, logs, and IDEs. Clutter doesn’t bother them because they’re trained to survive it.
• Users are not developers. Most people don’t want interfaces that look like a 1990s cockpit.
• Designers are trained to solve this problem.

What Designers Focus On

• Visual hierarchy
• Readability
• Spacing
• Usability
• Clarity
• Human factors

Developer Perspective

• A programmer’s job is not design; their taste is shaped by tools built for power‑users.
• Old, cluttered interfaces feel “better” to developers because they expose internal structure.
• Developers like seeing everything at once because it mirrors how they think: data → structure → options → panels → nested menus.
• Users, however, get overwhelmed and may leave.

Benefits of a Clean, Modern UI

• Reduces friction (fewer obstacles, clearer choices, better flow, safer defaults)
• Lower support tickets
• Higher conversion rates
• Higher user trust
• Easier onboarding
• Better perceived quality

Industry leaders such as Apple, Google, Stripe, and Figma all prefer clean, modern UI. If “cluttered 1990s UI” were better for users, the industry would not have moved away from it.

Engineers often change their mind after using the cleaner version: they may initially complain about moved elements, but after a week they typically admit the new design feels calmer, faster, and easier to navigate.

Compromise Solution

• Customer‑facing products: clean and modern UI.
• Advanced settings: tucked away so power‑users can still access them.
• Internal developer tools: can remain as functional and dense as developers prefer.

Design for users, not for developers. This approach fosters harmony between teams while delivering the best experience for end‑users.