What makes a bad web designer?
I’ve been struggling for some time with the dilemma of enforcing some sort of quality control on the directory listings. There are a number of web design companies currently listed in the directory that are of questionable skill and ability. Their graphic design sucks and their knowledge of rudimentary web design just seems to be lacking. It is important to me that Xemion be a directory of high-quality firms and that we don’t recommend bad web design companies.
But who am I to be the web design god and determine who is good-enough and who is out? Most of these so-called “bad” web design companies have portfolios listed. I’m sure if I contacted some of their clients, they’d tell me they were thrilled with their websites. Maybe they have an awful graphic designer, but their web application programming is amazing. How do I know?
I see four possible solutions:
- I make an arbitrary decision
Based simply on my opinion, I will leave out the worst of the worst. If there is doubt about whether or not a company gets in, I’ll let them in. This is what I’m leaning towards. - We create a panel to overview every site
A panel of 3-5 web design experts will review every site listing. The panel must unanimously decide a site should be left out, otherwise it’s listed. (If you’re interested on being such a panel, please leave a comment) - I create, with your input, a list of guidelines
I would prefer this option, but what conclusively says this company is ok, this one is bad? But what would the guidelines be? Graphic ability? Usability? Web standards? How can I test development ability? - Leave things as they are and let the clients decide
All clients should do due-diligence on their web design company. That said, most clients simply don’t understand design and that poor design really hurts the professionalism, usability and sales-potential of their website. I could publish some prominent resource pages with instructions on selecting web design companies. I already have such pages, they’re not just very prominent at the moment.
So, I ask you - my advertiser - what should I do? Some of you stand to be removed from the directory (or at a minimum not allowed to renew). The rest of you will be listed in a selective directory known for having excellent design companies.
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I think it’s important to make sure that the companies displayed in your directories are of credible skill and quality. I think you should create a panel consisting of 3-5 people along with a list of guidelines for those on the panel to follow. Not the least of these guidelines should be:
Valid (X)HTML 1.0 Transitional.
Standards-compliant CSS.
How is their use of graphics portrayed? Is it trendy or out-dated? How would they stack up against others on some of the ever-popular CSS Galleries?
Lastly, I would be glad to be of such a panel, if you’ll have me.
Comment by Micah Choquette — Jan 3, 2008 @ 11:51am
The problem with establishing standards on web design is that it is design. Design can be very subjective. Trendy or out of date aren’t necessarily things that can be judged by a few people.
While coding standards are important that doesn’t necessarily define a quality web design company. There are so many factors that clients consider before hiring a web design company no 4 people could define a good web designer. Some small mom and pop shops need and want simple websites that are not necessarily cutting edge. Other organizations need looks that buck the tide of design. From grunge to corporate looks there is simply no way to predetermine what any one company will need.
Another aspect to web design is development skill sets. Websites are no long simply frontend layouts. Many companies need and want the depth that comes from database driven websites. This will be problematic to judge from a frontend perspective. Coding standards vary as well as security aspects of code.
Comment by Desirea Herrera — Jan 3, 2008 @ 11:42pm
Interesting points above, especially the one from Desirea about security. It kind of leads me off the main point of my response but is so important that I think it’s justified. Having spent too much time in quality assurance for a large software company I can say a few things about the topic. Testing for security vulnerabilities is a specialized skillset, is time consuming and more importantly, in this situation results in activities that are essentially attacks on the website in question. I won’t even go into the liability question.
So… bearing in mind that the free market has a way of eliminating the chaff anyway, why not develop your Top Design Companies topic into an opportunity for recognition of companies that by Xemion standards are exceptionally good. You could then publish the standards and allow firms to compete for placement. You could still monetize the placement by adding an entry fee. Thoughts?
Comment by Dianne Bengtson — Jan 4, 2008 @ 11:00am
Dianna, I think that’s good idea. What about something more like a “Meets Xemion Quality Standards” badge on the actual listing? Do you think that would work? We could even have different levels of standards (reserving CSS & HTML validation for the top standard)
Comment by James Paden — Jan 4, 2008 @ 11:08am
That doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me, either.
Comment by Micah Choquette — Jan 4, 2008 @ 12:18pm
Thanks for the responses.
I think you are probably on the right track with the idea of a badge on the actual listing, and I think the wording should go something like “Xemion Top Pick” or “Xemion Category Winner”. Would you be okay with changing the focus of the effort to rewarding exceptional efforts and possibly using the word “criteria” rather than “standards?”? It seems like a positive acknowledgement of accomplishment and may encourage others to meet the bar you set.
The more I think about the security issue brought up by Desirea, the more I think it’s a worthwhile topic on it’s own. Despite all of the security testing that we did (above) for enterprise Web products, we never used the word “secure” to describe a deployment. We said “more secure”. In any kind of security effort, the best effort (including testing scans or independent verification) can only test for known vulnerabilities, and hackers are always looking for new ones.
So here are a few links about known vulnerabilities in common Web 2.0 practices.
http://www.news.com/The-security-risk-in-Web-2.0/2100-1002_3-6099228.html
http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=949&p=2
Less esoteric but probably at least as applicable to the topic are these best practices:
1) 3rd party payment vendors specialize in collecting credit card data securely, and they have insurance to cover any issues that might arise. Use them for ecommerce websites.
2) Any kind of personal data collected by a website should be transmitted through a secure (https) connection.
So this was pretty long winded. I’ll try to keep it shorter in the future. I think the effort to improve the quality of the Web designers on Xemion is a good one and has great potential. Thanks for the opportunity to collaborate on it.
Comment by Dianne Bengtson — Jan 4, 2008 @ 2:48pm
I am really so sick and tired of the miscellaneous web design “firms” in this area cutting up the competition because they offer low prices ($10/hour in some cases) and provide low quality of work. This not only sets the standard for design very low, but also makes it almost impossible to persuade clients easily that going with an established consultancy is better and more financially viable than going with a kid in 6th grade with Photoshop and a pirated version of Dreamweaver.
While I would be a hypocrite to say that some kids know what they’re doing, they are going about it in all the wrong ways. I, too, would be firm advocate of having a panel of three to five REAL experts (with experience as well as up-to-date knowledge of technology and methods), as this would weed out those “firms” I’m talking about.
Sorry if that seemed like a flame, but I’m sure many of you can relate and understand my frustration, as it is clearly mimicked around the web.
Comment by Josh Delsman — Jan 6, 2008 @ 6:16pm
Josh, I couldn’t agree with you more - but the question is what ***exactly are the standards*** these “firms” should be held to? When they ask, what do I tell them they did wrong?
Comment by James Paden — Jan 6, 2008 @ 6:19pm
While I agree that screening out bottom feeders and sub-par web designers (and companies) is much needed, I’m not sure if a panel is the right way to go.
I think what Desirea said about mom and pop shops needing simple web sites versus other companies needing more cutting edge design is very true, however, James, you are more than capable of reviewing a portfolio, identifying designs that suck and not allowing those providers into the Xemion directory - I don’t think you need a panel of experts to do that. On the other hand, if you are strapped for time, then you may not be able to do all of the review work single handedly. If that is the case, then you would need a panel, but I don’t think you need 3-5 people to review each company who applies for listing in your directory. Just get a few trusted people (experts) to each review a share of the potential listings on their own, not as a group, and decide whether the designer/firm meets Xemion standards or not.
Comment by Ruth Moore — Jan 6, 2008 @ 8:23pm
True, Ruth. The purpose behind the panel is to give it legitimacy more than anything else.
Comment by James Paden — Jan 6, 2008 @ 8:26pm
Sounds to me like Ruth has a great idea, too. If you’re getting a lot of submissions, it would probably be best to delegate these to “experts” within your advertisers. If a submission gets rejected and they want to try to appeal, then it may go before a panel. The question is — do you have folsk you can essentially trust with the well-being of your own website? That you would take their word for it if they booted someone that you might have kept?
Comment by Micah Choquette — Jan 7, 2008 @ 9:20am
How far do you go to establish a standard? Would consideration be given to whether the designer also provides SEO services? After all, if a site can’t be found, it doesn’t matter how beautiful it is. There are many ways to measure quality and, ultimately, the client makes the decision. So, I’d be careful about establishing a very stringent standard as there has to be a recognized flexibility for the varying types of clients (and budgets) that a designer would work with. At the same time, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to ferret out the worst-of-the-worst.
Comment by Angela Charles — Mar 12, 2008 @ 12:21pm