22 Required Reading?

This is a great article, Greg. It is definitely important for clients to know their Web site’s purpose and goals before getting into creation and production. We have had many clients who I know have spent tons of time and money to develop their business and marketing strategies but have spent little to no time on the purpose and goal(s) of their Web site other than “make it look good and do good.”

Hopefully articles like this will help get the word out that having the big picture determined makes designing and developing a Web site much easier, not to mention successful, on both sides.

posted at 04:55 pm on October 12, 2005 by Rochelle Knight

23 ..So if the client doesn’t have it under control

No. The best you can do is suggest something and hope that your client might consider it an improvement, and will not hire somebody else to do your job. Period. The client does have it under control, because he has budget to burn on his immanently idiotical vision, and your job as a professional web designer is to suck it up and start coding. The only control you have is to decide, whether you want this job, or not (and your kid goes to a community college next semester, or you house gets foreclosed). If you have principles, you might say “I am not going to build a site for ___ (fill in the blank: porn production company, life insurance company, etc.), because it’s ___ (fill in the blank: immoral, dirty, nasty, etc.)”. That is the only strategy you can successfully implement, unless you are asked to.
When was last time somebody here hird to develop a strategy?

posted at 05:07 pm on October 12, 2005 by Ilya Gerasimenko

24 Creative Brief?

Surely any web design agency worth their $$$ would start the project by developing a creative brief?

In writing this document it would quickly become clear whether the client’s goals would be best achieved by a web site or some other means.

Do web professionals actually start projects without one of these documents in place?

posted at 09:44 pm on October 12, 2005 by Christian Watson

25 "the client revealed that less than one-hundred pe

<<Back at the bank, the conversation started up again. While trying to communicate the reason for the existence of a website showcasing his cars, the client revealed that less than one-hundred people in all of the United States would likely be interested in obtaining the pair of classic cars by rental or purchase.

Upon hearing this, I suggested, much to the chagrin of my fellow designers, that the client might consider abandoning his idea for a website altogether and communicate to these people directly through a well crafted print campaign. That, however, is a topic for another article. >>

and that is why your opinion is very short-sighted.

if someone is interested in buying these cars, no matter where in the world they are, the $1000(ish) shipping fee is small change compared to the price tag of the cars themselves. the web will reach out, and cross all print/address related boundaries and those who are looking. seek and ye shall find. feck, people import $6-8000 VW camper vans to the UK, why not a pair of Mustangs?

Why limit your target audience with a limited print campaign? you are smugly doing your client a dis-service by not truley understaning his market. What’s wrong with the wealthy Premier League Footballers? The jet-setters living in Monaco, the rich Saudi oil barons and their sons, who set up their own performance league racing on a whim? Do you have all of these Goal Scorers, Playboys and Sultans addresses in a database? if you did, I doubt you’d be wasting your time writing for ALA…

posted at 12:05 am on October 13, 2005 by jake smith

26 Untitled

I’m not sure what the big deal is. I thought Greg’s article was well written, incredibly organized, and on top of all that – hillarious. It’s his opinion, and he’s entitled to it. I think that most of us have gone through similar situations, being asked to throw together a website with either an unclear vision or poor planning. For me, this is going to be a must-read for clients that I don’t feel are grasping why they “need” a site.

posted at 03:08 am on October 13, 2005 by Nathan Smith

27 Very true

Far too many small web design companies are willing to take client’s money and run. It may be hard to believe, but not everyone needs a website.

posted at 10:08 am on October 13, 2005 by Gordon McAlpine

28 In-house designers

Do web professionals actually start projects without one of these documents in place?

Remember, there are a lot of web professionals who do not freelance, or work for a design studio, buy instead work inside a non-design company.

I think this is where Greg’s article really hits home. Let’s take a step back and realize that many web professionals have no choice but to start a project without any documents. It’s a reality.

posted at 12:36 pm on October 13, 2005 by Ryan Irelan

29 Bitter?

What is it about the net that makes people loose the ability to make a contrary point or disagree without sounding like a grumpy old troll? Is it just the relative vacuum of the medium, text on a screen with no cadence, rythm, emotion, or body language attached to it? If so, is that a failing of the medium or a failing of those using the medium to understand those limitations?

And why is there a statistically small yet signifigant percentage of the population who get really hung up on what ammounts to syntax errors. They raise one or two good points, usually of the sort favored by the most knit picky of editors. But these handful of syntax errors do not invalidate the original point. It’s a logical straw man.

I have higher hopes for ALA readers, and let’s be honest, compared to most sites the discussions around here are pretty civilized. I just wish someone would publish an ALA article I largely disagree with so that I could try to express my disagreement through this medium and see how much of an ass I make of myself. It would probably be quite large. So I’m reserving judgement on anyone until I can walk a mile in their shoes. Except for the logical fallacy bit, that’s just silly no matter what the medium of discussion is.

posted at 12:47 pm on October 13, 2005 by Derek Pennycuff

30 Yet more of my ramblings

Anyway, Greg, thanks for the quick reply. I always try to compromise with my clients. 9 out of 10 times it works quite smoothly. I feel a large part of my job isn’t the actual design of the site and the writing of the code, but helping the client understand the target audience as well as what works and what doesn’t on the web (aka the secrets of successful websites). I want to make sure that both the client and their future site visitors are happy, and education plays a big role in that.

The problem I have run into a couple of times ties into my earlier comment about civilized disagreements online. Occasionally I find a client who doesn’t want to be educated and won’t compromise. They are paying good money to the firm I work for in exchange for our expertese, but they choose to not listen to us.

You wouldn’t go to a doctor and totally ignore his diagnosis. You wouldn’t demand that your auto mechanic replace your alternator after s/he has determined that the problem lies in the fuel injection system. You wouldn’t ask an architect to remove an important support column on a new building because it partially blocks the view from the lobby.

You may certainly get a second opinion in these cases, and sometimes you’ll find that the reccomendation of the first professional was way off the mark. We’re all only human after all.

But I think that’s a large part of the problem. It’s very easy to go hire another design firm who will quickly produce whatever craptastic site you request from them, take your money, and leave you (as a client) with a case of the warm fuzzies and a website destined to fail.

So when we make reccomendations or attempt to educate our clients, if they possess a sufficient ego to be offended by us lowely designers daring to voice any form of disagreement, they look for greener pastures; even if the green is really just spraypainted on.

I think an earlier ALA article addressed the lack of professional respect web designers get. “Oh yeah, my newphew does that too. He’s 16.” How can we foster enough respect among the stastically small yet signifigant portion of problem clients to not be dismissed like uppity help in the old south when we make a recomendation that goes counter to the vanity of the client? There’s fighting the good fight, and there’s picking your battles. The line between the two is something I’ve struggled with throughout my entire career.

posted at 01:12 pm on October 13, 2005 by Derek Pennycuff