Discuss: The Web Design Survey, 2007

by ALA Staff

21 Education

The education section is very US-centric. There are no junior colleges in Canada for example.

posted at 06:55 pm on April 24, 2007 by Kim Siever

22 Pacific Rim

For the record Pacific rim covers countries mentioned elsewhere in the list (Canada, USA, much of eastern Asia, western South America, etc).

posted at 06:57 pm on April 24, 2007 by Kim Siever

I agree with the other comments here. As someone who has started his own business, and so isn’t technically a freelancer, I felt like it was hard to express exactly where I’m at and where I’m headed. Even if I was a business owner who had employees I feel like it would have been hard to communicate this position in a way that would be valuable to the survey data.

Also, I agree with Brian Warren’s comment about Colorado – where the heck am I? I answered Great Plains b/c I know I’m not in the Midwest, but it seems silly when I literally live in the mountains…

posted at 07:14 pm on April 24, 2007 by Grant Blakeman

24

Bryan Trogdon wrote:

I’m very interested in the results of this survey, but I was unable to find your privacy policy stated anywhere on the site. Your reputation as an honest and professional site speaks for itself; however, you are asking personal questions and may receive a more honest answer if your privacy policy was clearly stated upfront.

The e-mail address is collected only if needed to contact a prize winner. It will not be used for any other purpose and will not be sold. The wording of the question did not previously make the privacy policy entirely clear. Now it does. Thanks!

Dan Wilkinson said:

What is the statistical validity of a survey of this sort? Considering all of the survey takers are self-selected, doesn’t that skew the results? While the survey results may be interesting, I don’t see how they can be used to accurately extrapolate data and trends concerning the web design industry as a whole.

I can’t speak to the validity or lack thereof of a survey that is being answered by about 500 people per hour. But I can tell you that we are actively contacting communities beyond A List Apart’s in order to reach the widest cross-spectrum of designers, developers, IAs, writers, usability and accessibility people, and beyond. We’re contacting journalists as well. The more people who participate, the more data we’ll collect, and the more accurate the findings will be.

Self-selection happened with the IA and AIGA surveys, too; people who consider themselves graphic designers are more likely than others to join AIGA, and thus more likely to fill out the annual AIGA design survey. I don’t know anyone who considers the AIGA survey to be inaccurate or biased on that account.

Moreover, “web designers” may be the most self-selecting professionals in the world. Nobody gives you this job. Nobody tells you you can do it. We are all, to some extent, self-created professionals.

posted at 07:27 pm on April 24, 2007 by Jeffrey Zeldman

25 California?

Maybe I’m missing something, but as someone who lives in Northern California, we don’t generally consider ourselves to be US:Southwest or US:Northwest. We’re just US:West or US:Pacific.

posted at 07:31 pm on April 24, 2007 by Aliotsy Andrianarivo

26

Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the frustrations! We matched our geographic categories to pre-existing geographic categories in the IA survey, so that it would be easier for everyone to compare results between the two surveys, once the ALA data is collected and the results are published.

But hey, if the categories really don’t work, we’ll come up with better geographic categories next year.

Thanks for this valuable feedback, and thanks for helping our industry take control of its own self-definition and destiny.

posted at 07:50 pm on April 24, 2007 by Jeffrey Zeldman

27 Great I idea

I think this a great idea, get the word out about who we are and what we do!

posted at 08:33 pm on April 24, 2007 by Adam McPeake

28 Great idea

I think this a great idea, get the word out about who we are and what we do!

posted at 08:33 pm on April 24, 2007 by Adam McPeake

29 Question 3

As someone mentioned this is not about ethnicity. Ethnicity would possibly be relevant, but what does the color of my skin (which this is all about) have to do with web design? I’m checking “other”, as there is no “why do you care?” option.

posted at 08:50 pm on April 24, 2007 by Daniel Sandbecker

30 Question 31

Ok, so there was the reason for Q3. I still think the wording should be looked over and possibly an explanation added, or the questions moved to the same page. I almost dropped the survey on page 1.

posted at 09:02 pm on April 24, 2007 by Daniel Sandbecker