I’m a web designer…I think?
You know how sometimes you read something and you get this sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that perhaps you’ve been going about things all wrong?
That’s the way I felt when I read last month’s article in Website Magazine entitled “Holistic Website Development and Promotion”.
Perhaps you’re thinking it might be one of those insightful, change your life, Seth Godin-esque articles that grips you and makes you think a long time, changing your world view. Um, nope. It’s just a practical article promoting a holistic approach to web site development.
What made me pause though, was the overview of all the different professionals that should be involved in making an effective web site.
According to the article, there are up to 10 professionals needed to put together a good web site which include the following:
- Graphic designers
- Programmers
- Web usability experts
- Conversion optimization specialists
- Writers and copywriters
- Photographers and graphic designers/illustrators for the content
- Audio and video content developers
- SEO professionals
- SEM professionals
- Social Media professionals
So, why did it make me feel the way it did, you ask?
Well, as I read down the list, I started to realize that I’ve been carrying around about 5 of these roles all by myself (albeit with varying degrees of skill and capacities).
This started to make me think. A lot.
Am I kidding myself thinking that I can carry all of those roles successfully? And if I really am doing all of them well or well enough, why am I still labeling myself a “web designer”? According to fullsail.edu, a web designer is “Responsible for the graphic design, art, and layout of a website on the internet”. I’m quite sure I do more than that every day.
Now, I’m not complaining, so please don’t get me wrong. I’m the type of person who has an intense curiosity for a lot of different subjects. I accept that I’m handling a lot of different types of tasks because I chose to take them on and because I like challenges.
On the other hand, I’ve noticed the last few years that my responsibilities keep expanding and expanding, yet I’m not really feeling compensated in the right way for providing the extra services. And we actually turn down or refer out a lot of requests for things we can’t handle like copywriting, flash animation, print design, mobile design and application development, etc. etc.
Is this all realistic in the long term? I mean, should a 1 or 2 person small studio be expected to provide so many different services? Does this actually allow space for us to get really good at our work?
It feels to me like more and more, we are expected to provide all of the solutions that a larger agency would provide and yet we are not a larger agency. Besides all of the different tasks involved in designing and making a website, we also have to run the business itself. And there are only so many hours in a day.
A typical solution to when you start feeling overstretched is to start outsourcing or hiring. The last year or so, we’ve been successful and busy enough, that we started to entertain ideas of getting a small biz loan, opening an agency, getting a real office, hiring employees, that whole jig.
We managed to push through the very busy times (and still do) by hiring contract help when it got too much handle everything ourselves. We were in the position of, “Ok, where do we go with this now? Do we need to expand?” But…why do we always need to be focused on growth?
I personally know many solo web designers who work a lot. I mean, putting 60+ hours in and working 7 days a week. That’s a personal choice and I’m not going to get into it too much here except to wonder out loud if it’s really worthwhile in the long-term to spend that much time on so many different types of tasks. I mean, if you don’t work enough hours on one particular area, how can you become an expert?
I asked several other designers how they felt about the roles they handle and most who ran their own shops agreed that they had too many responsibilities. Those who worked for agencies, on the other hand, were mainly expected to wear the one hat they were hired for.
What do you think the next step is? Should us who have our own shops all try to keep taking on more roles and becoming better generalists or should we start picking a specialty and niching out?
And if you’re a web designer who does good design work alone, but the copywriting and other important marketing elements haven’t been given enough attention to on a particular project and the site fails, who’s fault is it? The designer’s? The client’s?
I really think this is a subject that needs more exploration and would love to hear your thoughts about it.
P.S. The awesome graphic above is from Budd Caddell from WhatConsumesMe.com.
Comments
I have also experienced myself over the past year. The job descriptions and project roles in this industry have been in constant flux since the industry itself was birthed, but the evolution seems to be accelerating lately.
I call myself a “web consultant” instead of a “web designer.” I feel that does a better job of describing what I do. Like you, I wear many hats for each project.
Paul Boag has discussed the topic of “generalists” vs. “specialists” on Boagworld many times. He considers himself a generalist, but his company includes several specialists.
I think most specialists will eventually work as part of team unless the client’s budget small.
I have definitely been thinking about a lot of those questions lately.
I think there plenty of clients who need a basic website without all the bells/whistles, and for that, sure one person such as you or I could handle it. But I do think if the client is at a point where they are talking about SEO or adwords, or flash animation, or photography, copywriting etc, I think one solution would be to ensure that you charge those as “extra services” and outsource them to a network of freelance specialists.
I do think its possible to do a handful of things really well, but at some point, it doesn’t really make sense to stretch yourself thin just to learn a bit about everything. As you said, you can’t become an expert if you don’t spend much time on any one thing. I think its about finding balance.
I think small studios and solopreneurs should concentrate on what they do really well, and outsource what they don’t. And make sure you charge for those “specialty” services without hesitation!
@Laura - I thought about using “web consultant” too. But, I never decided finally because I wasn’t sure it was descriptive enough. I mean, does a web consultant do marketing stuff or design stuff or strategy stuff? You know what I mean?
Labels…sigh!
Going to go check out Boagworld. I stop by there every once in awhile, but missed those. Thanks!!
-Naomi
@Marie - I agree with what you say. What I wonder though and perhaps I didn’t really make it clear enough, is how to manage the expectations of clients who don’t have budgets large enough to hire different specialists.
And if we go ahead and do a website without the specialists (copyrighters, SEO specialists, etc), are we providing a good enough web site for them?
Or perhaps it’s just kind of a, “you get what you pay for” type deal?
Tough questions.
@Naomi - I agree that there isn’t a title that fits just right, but for me “web consultant” comes closest. The other labels would be too exclusive to describe what I do, which includes a mix of design, development, SEO, marketing, strategy, and a million other little things.
I consider myself a generalist, and I partner with specialists when a more acute level of knowledge and experience is needed.
Paul Boag talks about the need for generalists in this article - http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/more-than-web-designers. He has also discussed the topic multiple times on the podcast.
@Laura - Thanks for the link! It looks like Paul thinks that generalizing will be the way of the future. It’ll be interesting to see for sure.
@Naomi Yeah, I think its basically a matter of communicating to the client that they are getting very basic “get what you pay for” services in the other areas of specialty. You can give your recommendation (for them to allow you to outsource those other areas of specialty) but at the end of the day, if the client is only willing to spend so much, I think that they need to know and understand what they’re getting, and manage the expectations accordingly.
Definitely tough questions, because I do think these days “web designer” ends up encompassing: business strategy, design, development, seo, photography, information architecture, etc etc!
I still haven’t found the right words to explain to people what I do!
It’s a conundrum, for sure. I’ve been quoting a ‘base price’ that includes research/wireframes/PSD comps/HTML & CSS/testing/WP templating. Everything else is an add-on: plugins, logo design, images, specialty coding, writing, etc.
For those things I CAN do/CHOOSE to do I make it clear that those prices are hourly (except logo, that’s project) at my studio rate.
If I need to purchase assets or outside services, I add a % for project management. I ‘consult’ with clients and let them know WHY the other services are valuable: such as specialty photography, copywriting, SEO, advanced JavaScript. The reality is, not every client has a budget to cover those add-ons.
But those are all add-ons and client understands.
@Catherine - Makes sense.
I had someone suggest to me today to put the services into packages and then outsource the parts we can’t handle instead of presenting them like add-ons.
So, maybe it’s all about the presentation.
Still don’t know how much I want to do that and where the boundaries should be though. My number one concern is making sure the clients have what they need, so if they really need copywriting, for example, I’m gonna recommend it.
On the other hand, I don’t want to do project management all the time either since that takes me further and further from the work I actually enjoy. Not that I dislike project management. It’s just not the reason I got into this line of work.
Perhaps I’m just overcomplicating this. Ha!
Wow, great conversation. Saw your name on Twitter thru Kye Nelson, and also via @shaboom, Molly Gordon. As the person providing the copy for clients and helping them with their words, I’m actually in a similar boat, now that Wordpress.org makes the tech relatively simple and straightforward. That said, I’m not techie. So I’m connecting with people who are committed to getting help with their words (content/copywriting &/or book writing), and for several of my clients, their web site starting points are nonexistent. And they don’t have big budgets at all. And most are even less techie than I am. So yes, from one of your colleagues in the other areas, especially serving heart-based and soft-sell soul-preneurs and healers, it’s a similar issue.
@Bobbye - Thanks for stopping by!
That’s interesting that you are experiencing the same type of thing in your own business too.
I think Wordpress itself changed the landscape of things a lot, in many good ways, but also in ways that perhaps aren’t so good.
Wordpress kind of gives the impression that anyone can start their own online business. This is good, to an extent. However, it also means that there are a lot of sites that are mediocre out there and also that we all have to be Wordpress experts in order to support it.
Most of the sites we work on are Wordpress sites because it’s the best solution for a small site and the easiest for clients to use, but we are careful not to promote that as a main feature of our business because we believe it’s more about the thought that goes into the process and the expertise that makes a successful site than the tools you use to do it.
That’s a whole other discussion though!
Interesting discussion, Naomi. I also identify with 5 roles on that list, but mostly with one that is not on the list: front-end developer. I sometimes struggle to communicate my skill set to non-techies. I usually just say: “I implement designs”. Which is completely true, but they’re still left baffled.
Jeffrey Zeldman has talked a lot about how the web design industry has no kind of standardized job titles. So while we struggle to communicate our roles and skills to outsiders, we’re just as bad communicating our roles to our peers. We probably need conditional comments on our job titles!
@Andy - The world would be so much more simple if we could just put everything in boxes and titles, wouldn’t it?
@Naomi - Maybe for a bit. But we’re humans (not to mention we’re web designers)... we’d still find a way to complicate things!
Adam McCombs posting an interesting take on this today too in case anyone’s interested: http://cot.ag/9zebl7
-Naomi
And another interesting take from Paul Boag, complete with a nice video. Always interesting to hear what he has to say.
http://boagworld.com/random/new-skills
He mentions that he thinks we should do several roles, but that they don’t need to be too deep in each. Something to think about although I’m not sure yet if I agree or no!
@Laura - Thanks for mentioning my article in the comments section! :)
@Naomi - Anytime!