Uffenorde.com

Image Source: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

I’m a web designer by profession. Unfortunately the title “web designer” is deceptive. While many think this means I push pixels around and write simple HTML it is far, far more complicated.

Here’s just a few other considerations I have to take into account and provide solutions for:

1. Obviously the site must be designed (people think design is so subjective…well…at least in the browser world it’s not). Simply putting “cute kittens” in a site does not mean everyone will love it. Just because someone designed a bake sale flyer in 1982 doesn’t mean they “have an eye” for design.Image Source: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell
   
2. Cross browser support (does the site function and is it presentable in IE7, IE8, IE9, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera?) Most have no idea that browsers interpret code vastly different.
3. Is it usable? This is a huge and hot issue and is becoming more and more critical as technology evolves.
4. Accessibility. Can someone with disabilities navigate the site? Am I using up to date web standards to accommodate screen readers? Betcha’ didn’t think about that now did ya?
5. Clean, valid, markup. Is the markup (the code that the browser interprets) solid and free of errors?
6. Interaction design. If there is a need for the user to provide input, how easy is that interaction for the user?
7. Page flow. How navigation from page to page is structured.
8. Content strategy. How well is the content designed for the context it’s placed in? Is there too much “fluff”?
9. Print styles. How well is the page’s content presented when the user requests a “Print” (oh yeah…each browser does this differently as well).
10. Mobile device support. Does the site look presentable and function well in mobile devices?
11. Responsive design. Does the site respond appropriately to a device that is 320 pixels wide versus 1920 pixels wide?
12. Maintainability. Will the site accommodate swift and efficient changes? Will the guts (the code) have to be ripped out and created again?
13. Scalability. Will the site allow new content or features easily?
14. There’s more that can go in this list but people don’t generally read a list that has more than like 7 things in it and I’m way passed 7.

People have no idea how much work, knowledge, and talent is required to create something (of worth) on the web. I love (read cringe) when people naively assume the Internet is just a copy and paste environment.

One of my favorite things to hear aspiring web owners (or people in general who have no idea what they’re talking about with regard to Internet related things) saying is “Oh yeah, creating a web page is simple…just use Microsoft Word’s ‘Export to HTML’ feature and upload it.” Please, kill me.

Image Source: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

Indeed modern technology has enabled many less savvy people to create something digital that they can share on the Internet. This is a good thing (don’t misunderstand). But the problem this engenders people with is the idea that because they can use Facebook, Twitter or Google docs easily, they can hire a web designer to create an elaborate feature rich web site for pennies.

No, my friends, the Internet is not simply cut & paste and web designers worth their salt deserve more respect (read money) than I see them receiving these days. Better yet, go build a web site yourself and you’ll quickly see that there’s more to it than a simple ctrl+c, ctrl+v and well placed cute kittens.