You gotta keep up, it’s moving faster than you
Published by on December 22nd, 2005
The web development space is in constant movement: browsers, servers, emerging technology. All these play a part in ensuring us developers need to find the time not only to get the job done, but to push our knowledge forward so we do not lag behind and lose future work.
I wouldn’t want to be a new boy coming in to web development at this time. The catch-up necessary to go from standing start to a full knowledge of compliant XHTML & CSS, let alone server-side scripting solutions would swamp most of us. Add to that the different principles involved in creating a web solution (note the use of ’solution’ here, not ’site’) and you have a recipe for a never-ending uphill struggle.
I am working with a company right now who are, for want of a better word, babies. They entered the web solution space earlier this year and I created a bespoke content management system to their needs which has been used behind a handful of websites at this time. We have all been through a tortuous experience with one particular site over the past six months (yes, I said six… only one job I have worked on has ever taken that long), and they have had more than their fair share of opportunity to grow, learn and understand the web solution space - I am not the type to keep information and knowledge close to my chest.
We are just massing the troops for a new pitch for an online product catalogue and promotional site and the alarm bells have already started to sound. I am remote from the actual client, which can be frustrating enough, but between myself and them are these inexperienced developers. Through the experience of the last nightmare job they appear to have learned very little, they are not attempting to grow, to learn, to expand their knowledge and experience to do a better job next time. They seem to once again be plodding through the initial consultation phase with very little genuine understanding of the client’s issues and how to go about resolving them. After all, a website is just like a brochure but online, isn’t it.
When I was preparing the initial pitch document, it became immediately clear that a very customer-centred solution is essential to giving the client what their business needs online. The site already exists, has maintained a similar number of visitors monthly, yet enquiries and conversions are dropping. Upon visiting, the reasons are clear: unusable navigation (clumsy, often dead-ended and only works properly on Windows IE), disorganised content and content which has been structured to fit the selected CMS.
But all this is irrelevant. A conversation between my contact and the client and the focus seems to be to discover some graphical navigation gimmick which will lift the site to great heights of… well… I’m not entirely sure what. Perhaps a great looking web design portfolio, while the client continues to see lowering customer enquiries.
I may be a little self-righteous about it sometimes, but I like to sleep at night knowing I have done a decent job for the money I charged. It is just the way I am. I simply cannot watch this company toddle off down an inappropriate route to the cost of the client. To be honest, I’d rather not be putting my name and my time to such a project. Maybe that is the wrong attitude for today’s business world, I don’t know. But when a web development company provides a devalued solution to a client - that is one that does not meet the client’s business needs at the end of the day - then the whole web development industry loses a little credibility and our skills lose a little value.
3 Responses to “You gotta keep up, it’s moving faster than you”
December 22nd, 2005 at 12:29 pm
I don’t think you’re being self-righteous at all. It’s difficult to do work that clearly is not the solution it could be and should be. I come from a print career and the amount of pieces I produced that would never engage or entice the ‘target audience’ was astounding. (And these were often print runs of a million pieces or more.) Whether it’s print or web, one must understand the end user and the way they respond (and need to respond) to what’s in front of them.
Cute graphics and flashy interfaces are great for a portfolio’s ‘wow’ appeal but never tell the whole story. Is it impressive to have a gorgeous looking site in your CV package but the company went under because you didn’t assess (or chose to ignore) the click habits of it’s core market? In that situation a web designer becomes no more reliable or useful than a shifty used car salesman. Waxing a broken car won’t make it run better. The client loses and the designer is left with blood on his hands.
A client deserves to be given the best chance for success by the person they are employing and entrusting to better their presence in their focus market. Without the right attention to the space a company can fold because of poor planning in print and web campaigns.
So no, you are not self-righteous in your quest to do the right thing for the right reasons. That’s why you get the good solo work you do. You don’t flippantly apply flashy solutions— you give the right solutions for the project. It’s just a shame there’s not more of you out there that understand that principle. Don’t give up on trying to hoist the flag for usability and sound approaches. I know you can produce gorgeous sites, but I also know that you don’t do it without making sure the core purpose is airtight first. You tune the car and then apply the wax, and dammit, that’s how it should be.
December 23rd, 2005 at 7:46 am
Dig out the hockey stick from your foray into the inline skating world.
Apply vigorously and rapidly to the heads of inexperienced developers.
Bury them in Wales.
Tell client you’ll bravely carry on without them.
Problem solved.
December 23rd, 2005 at 11:11 pm
Damn those pesky NDAs