Undermining the Industry

August 12th, 2008 ∞

Undermining the Industry

<rant>

It’s no secret that the web design industry is often not given the respect it deserves. People treat it as if it’s a much simpler task than it really is. Forgive me if I come off sounding a bit arrogant, but it seems like people seriously underestimate the work involved in creating a quality web site.

One issue, for example, is people expecting to see comps of work without payment. It happens quite a bit, but it’s a ridiculous request. Do people ask mechanics to make the first couple of repairs on their car for free so they can get a feel for how they like working with them and then, based on that, decide whether or not to go with that mechanic and pay them? So why ask a web design company to create a few mock-ups first before deciding to actually pay them for their work?

Then there’s beautiful journalism like the article posted yesterday in the Wall Street Journal telling companies how to build their own site with 8 hours of work and $10. Brilliant…because that’s all that goes into a quality site.

Really, there are some fantastic gems in the article like this one:

All you need to know is that a block of HTML essentially, a bunch of gobbledygook words and symbols can add extra features to your site.

And this isn’t some second-fiddle publication being read by 5 people, this is the Wall Street Journal. A highly regarded and professional publication.

So where does all this undermining come from? It think a lot of it stems from a lack of understanding. For almost as long as there has been the web, there have been “build-your-own site” tools easily and readily available. This gives people the feeling that that’s really all it takes…a couple clicks of a button, drag a few things, and you have a site.

But the reality, as we all know, is that there is so much more that goes into the design and development of a site. So much more planning and “strategerizing” goes into the process. Can you build your own site with these free tools? Yes. Should you? That really all depends on how serious you are about making your website a business tool. If you really want to maximize it’s impact, then the answer is probably no.

I understand I’m preaching to the choir a bit here, but after coming across Jeff Croft’s link to the WSJ article, I just had to vent a bit. It’s sad to see such a lack of understanding and respect of our industry come from such a well-known and highly regarded paper.

</rant>

6 Smart Things Were Said

Chis
08/12/2008

There are unfortunatley businesses and people out there that think we just clap out hands together, do a little dance, and bimbity-bobity-boo you’ve got yourself a website. There was once a time that websites made as described in the WSJ article were acceptable… but the webs come a long way, and a professional made website is 100x more effective than a do-it-yourself made site. Hopefully WSJ read past this article. Side note: WSJ site, while not the most advanced site out there, does have a few fancy bells and whistles, none of which would be added through the methods they described.

Jordan
08/13/2008

@Tim – I agree 100%. I believe the web community would be a lot better off without those tools just for the fact that then people would have to learn how to do something right rather than publishing something that is, well lets say ‘under par’. I guess some people have to learn that you get what you pay for, and if you didn’t pay anything for it (either in time or cash), its probably pretty worthless.

When I read that article it was the first time I was ever on the WSJ site. I usually don’t pay attention to anything news related unless I see it on CNN’s site. Anyways, I am really surprised at how poor the WSJ site is. I tried it in several different browsers since FF(3.0) rendered it poorly, but no it looked like that in all the browsers I tried (FF3.0, IE7, Opera9.51, and Safari 3.1.2; all for windows). I’m really surprised that an organization that has a reputation like WSJ would have a site that poor in the first place, let alone write an article like this one. I understand that they are trying to help out the small business owner, but honestly in my opinion a poorly constructed site hurts a company’s reputation even if it does allow them to get their name out there to a larger audience than what they could if they didn’t have a site.

grrr…. sigh …. ok I’m done.

Jordan
08/13/2008

A note to my above post/rant: After looking around on their site (WSJ’s site) a bit I realized only that article rendered poorly. Not sure why but either way I agree with Chis, their site isn’t that terrific.

Tim Kadlec
08/13/2008

Thanks for the comments guys!

@Chris – While you could argue whether or not those build-it-yourself tools should’ve ever been used for business sites, you’re definitely right in saying that the tools are completely inadequate in today’s web.

Like @Jordan says ‘a poorly constructed site hurts a company’s reputation’. Sites that are poorly constructed and designed reflect poorly on that business and look unprofessional.

Jeff
09/17/2008

True – from a technical / business side ‘comps’ should not be done.

Practically, however, web design is also art and the average person needs to see what you can do for them before they’ll be willing to spend their dollars with you. When they trust your skills, then they’ll be willing to pay. If they don’t see the value of your work TO THEM, the $ will end up with someone who WILL show the potential client what the want to see.

I can’t tell you how many times I had to produce ‘spec’ spots for clients when I worked in radio. Until the client HEARD the spot, they just weren’t ready to write the check.

Sad – but it is what it is.

Tim Kadlec
09/23/2008

@Jeff – Nice to see you over here Jeff! Unfortunately, you’re right. There are many cases where a client will choose not to go with you if you refuse to do spec work. They will inevitably be able to find someone who will, and then go that route.

I have seen some people say, ‘Well those are not the kind of clients you want anyway!’ However, the vast majority of those people are very well-known freelancers, or have the luxury of working at an design agency that is very well recognized and they can choose to turn those projects down and not have to worry about it.

In the end, I think it really comes down to situation. I think there are times where we can afford to turn that kind of work down, and if we are in a situation to do so, I think we should.

Chis
08/12/2008

There are unfortunatley businesses and people out there that think we just clap out hands together, do a little dance, and bimbity-bobity-boo you’ve got yourself a website. There was once a time that websites made as described in the WSJ article were acceptable… but the webs come a long way, and a professional made website is 100x more effective than a do-it-yourself made site. Hopefully WSJ read past this article. Side note: WSJ site, while not the most advanced site out there, does have a few fancy bells and whistles, none of which would be added through the methods they described.
Jordan
08/13/2008

@Tim – I agree 100%. I believe the web community would be a lot better off without those tools just for the fact that then people would have to learn how to do something right rather than publishing something that is, well lets say ‘under par’. I guess some people have to learn that you get what you pay for, and if you didn’t pay anything for it (either in time or cash), its probably pretty worthless.

When I read that article it was the first time I was ever on the WSJ site. I usually don’t pay attention to anything news related unless I see it on CNN’s site. Anyways, I am really surprised at how poor the WSJ site is. I tried it in several different browsers since FF(3.0) rendered it poorly, but no it looked like that in all the browsers I tried (FF3.0, IE7, Opera9.51, and Safari 3.1.2; all for windows). I’m really surprised that an organization that has a reputation like WSJ would have a site that poor in the first place, let alone write an article like this one. I understand that they are trying to help out the small business owner, but honestly in my opinion a poorly constructed site hurts a company’s reputation even if it does allow them to get their name out there to a larger audience than what they could if they didn’t have a site.

grrr…. sigh …. ok I’m done.
Jordan
08/13/2008

A note to my above post/rant: After looking around on their site (WSJ’s site) a bit I realized only that article rendered poorly. Not sure why but either way I agree with Chis, their site isn’t that terrific.
Tim Kadlec
08/13/2008

Thanks for the comments guys!

@Chris – While you could argue whether or not those build-it-yourself tools should’ve ever been used for business sites, you’re definitely right in saying that the tools are completely inadequate in today’s web.

Like @Jordan says ‘a poorly constructed site hurts a company’s reputation’. Sites that are poorly constructed and designed reflect poorly on that business and look unprofessional.
Jeff
09/17/2008

True – from a technical / business side ‘comps’ should not be done.

Practically, however, web design is also art and the average person needs to see what you can do for them before they’ll be willing to spend their dollars with you. When they trust your skills, then they’ll be willing to pay. If they don’t see the value of your work TO THEM, the $ will end up with someone who WILL show the potential client what the want to see.

I can’t tell you how many times I had to produce ‘spec’ spots for clients when I worked in radio. Until the client HEARD the spot, they just weren’t ready to write the check.

Sad – but it is what it is.
Tim Kadlec
09/23/2008

@Jeff – Nice to see you over here Jeff! Unfortunately, you’re right. There are many cases where a client will choose not to go with you if you refuse to do spec work. They will inevitably be able to find someone who will, and then go that route.

I have seen some people say, ‘Well those are not the kind of clients you want anyway!’ However, the vast majority of those people are very well-known freelancers, or have the luxury of working at an design agency that is very well recognized and they can choose to turn those projects down and not have to worry about it.

In the end, I think it really comes down to situation. I think there are times where we can afford to turn that kind of work down, and if we are in a situation to do so, I think we should.