Posted: January 23rd, 2009 | Author: msh | Filed under: Client Side | Tags: budget, consulting, specialization, technologicalpanic | No Comments »
It’s easy to forget that we work in a new and strange industry. We surround ourselves with ourselves, so we take the nature of our product for granted. But for the majority of web users, we create virtual products — they take up no space; their size, complexity, and location are indeterminate; they appear and disappear from the screen in an instant. So how to value their worth?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: November 27th, 2008 | Author: msh | Filed under: Client Side | Tags: budget, dangerousphrases, specialization, technologicalpanic | 1 Comment »
This dangerous phrase occurs mostly in the world of development, not in design (although there is a variation: “My friend is a designer”). It could be a woman, of course, but in the world of IT and web development, you’re usually dealing with men. This person will have some kind of experience with the web, or web servers, or some technology you associate with the web. He may configure your email server. He may be a friend who once had a web site of his own.
In any case, your (limited, possibly anecdotal) understanding of this person’s skills may lead you to think, “I don’t need an overpriced agency to design and build our site. We’ll just get him to do it. We know him, we trust him, we already pay him….” You might also think, “Let’s keep the risk low this first time around by keeping the investment low. If we need to, we can hire specialists to clean this up later.”
Read the rest of this entry »
