In the last issue, I briefly discussed Design Engineers and their dedication to their craft. In this issue, I’m expanding on that thread with filling my gaps in the field and what it means for me to own the craft end to end.

Although I often obsessed over polish, I didn’t consistently slow down to explore the full depth that great work demands. That shifted recently after reading “Developing Taste” by Emil Kowalski and, later, the updated material in his course, “Animations on the Web”.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.

We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.

Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile.

It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

― Ira Glass

Ira Glass’s observation about the gap between taste and ability resonated with me. We can recognize excellence long before we can consistently produce it. I have personally experienced this disparity repeatedly over the last few months.

Between purchasing the course and actually starting it, I felt that gap acutely. People around me were shipping thoughtful, well‑crafted work while I hesitated at the starting line. I knew the standard I wanted to reach but struggled to create the space to reach it.

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Mind the Gap

I’m usually a quick learner and tend to skim materials rather than study them. This time, however, I took the appropriate amount of time and space to hone my craft and attempt to narrow the gap. Over the course of a weekend, I completed the first module.

I started a personal project to explore and build on what I’ve learned. I made deliberately slow passes over details I had previously neglected. Although it might not be ideal for an early prototype, I want to validate my learning early on.

I fine-tuned the animation by recording and refining it. I scrolled back and forth through the recording to identify inconsistencies or undesirable side effects. Then, I addressed them and inspected them again and again until they were just right.

Thanks to my expectations of properly animating and making it responsive, the project, which took most of the day, came to a satisfying conclusion on the last day. With this newfound motivation, I moved forward to share this change with my colleagues.

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Narrow the Gap

As I continue to narrow the gap, I will study the aforementioned course and apply what I learn along the way. This includes everything from recording and refining to addressing ease of use and accessibility concerns, as well as questioning the necessity of animations.

That gap between taste and ability doesn’t disappear overnight, but it narrows with deliberate practice. For me, owning the craft end to end means designing with intention from the start, validating decisions, and leaving room to iterate until the work reads as clearly as it looks.