Software as Art

When you work with developing UI code as much as I do, you run into the issue of UI as Art.  It's (mostly) subjective.  People have built up mental maps of their life, surroundings and how they expect life should be and why doesn't everyone think like I do?

I do it all the time, but now I try to seek out and enjoy the differences instead of working to avoid these conflicts of vision.  Unless a UI design is specified before hand, I have to come up with a visual implementation that I feel suits the needs best.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  It kind of depends on who is playing the bills and what their vision of the issues are.

In this sense software is like art.  Not just the UI elements, but the internal design and structure of software as well.  Everyones internal bias get exposed when writing and looking at code.  Different code may do the same thing but be completely different internally.  Look at Android and iOS development, nothing a like but the end result is not all that different.

Now here is where it's painful to write software.  Artist create art for themselves and are free to express their vision (except maybe commercial artists).  Software developers are technical artists but are judged, praised, punished and rewarded on how they express or repress their own vision.  This can be tough on a ego.

I wonder if this is a limiting factor in the professional lifespan of a software engineer?