Do Web designers need a body? July 25th, 2009
I consider myself a “Web developer”, but what does that really mean nowadays? Titles in the Web are a dime-a-dozen: “designer”, “developer”, “engineer”, “creative”, “producer”, “webmaster” and many more. Whenever I respond to someone that I’m a “Web developer” they instinctively think I singularly design Web sites. But they’re wrong. So very, very wrong. I actually program more than I design these days for Centation.
I guess it all comes down to the fact that if you work with computers you are still thought of as a geek. It’s a stigma the industry hasn’t really done anything to deny or remove. Gone are the days that “those guys who do stuff with computers” live in the basement of their mothers home, never going out for fear of sunlight. And the reason people still think that, could it possibly because there is no governing body for the industry making people aware that this is no longer the case? Would it really make a difference?
In my view, no. As there are more people growing up with computers the label of “geek” will inevitable soon fade out. People understand that in fact computers aren’t that complex anymore. They’re now user friendly. You don’t need to work your fingers down to the bone typing commands into a terminal―you simply point and click. But the idea of a body for the Web is definitely an interesting thought.
“My friend’s son who made a Web site for his Aunt Jane’s Sunday morning coffee club has offered to construct our site for £50. Can you beat that?”
Anyone can set up a company that provides Web development. Even a 16 year old with a couple weeks experience making sites in Dreamweaver who’s never even stumbled upon on the terms HTML or CSS and thinks Java is a nice cup of the brown stuff. And that, in my opinion, in what’s wrong with the Web. There are too many Web cowboys out there. I see them everywhere. They’re easy to spot, not just from the visual aspect of their site but from their inaccurate copy and horrendous code (Hello those funky Microsoft Word tags, seriously, what’s with those?) and because they will ultimately have some kind of music playing in the background which you can’t turn off. Or they’ll maximize your browser and use Flash to open up into full screen mode.
We’ve spoken to a few companies that come to us for a quote only for them to say “My friend’s son who made a Web site for his Aunt Jane’s Sunday morning coffee club has offered to construct our site for £50. Can you beat that?”. No, of course not. That’s like asking your friend who just bought a calculator, giggled as they tapped in “5318008” to do your taxes. We’re not that worried about losing the project, though. They’ll come back in a couple months or years saying their site is awful asking us to develop it properly. But it devalues the work we do.
This is something a body could help with. When you suddenly had to be CORGI qualified to install/maintain peoples gas (such as boilers) in the UK it meant any cowboys who weren’t qualified suddenly found it hard to get work. Nearly everyone now knows you must be CORGI qualified. It bought respect back to the profession.
There’s always a “but”. And in this case there are quite a few. The Internet is open and free for anyone to upload their site, and this is what’s great about it. I can host some information for the whole world to view, and it should stay that way. Also, Web design is all a matter of opinion. It’s like an art gallery. Some people will walk past a piece of art and scoff, whereas someone will be memorised and pay a fortune for it. It’s the same with the Web. Take for instance the newly redesigned Carsonified and BE sites, I think they are both awful but someone somewhere must have said “That’s exactly what we want, great job.” This proposes the question: how would you decide who becomes accredited and who doesn’t? As just proved there is no right or wrong answer as there is in RICS for surveyors or ACA for accountants. And this is why there will never be a governing body. And that’s good. I think.
Comments so far
Alex
July 2009
Hmmm, tricky. Very often in my experience, many very qualified web designers started off as web cowboys, and if they need to be qualified to get started you deny people the opportunity to teach themselves and begin to slowly support themselves.
Having said that, I do find it infuriating, upsetting even, facing the £50 nephews. I think all we can do is make sure that our work is the best it can be, adheres to web standards as be patient, eventually clients appreciate your work and ocne in a while you run across someone who appreciates the quality of your work – hold on to these people! :-D
Sean
July 2009
Interesting thoughts. Sure there are a lot of cowboys out there. But a web designer has the advantage of a body of work they can use as a portfolio, so it shouldn’t be as mysterious to the uneducated consumer (manager/owner) as something like network consulting which I used to do. A portfolio of cool websites speak for themselves. My experience, mostly in Central Europe, is with guys who are quite proficient in CSS, Javascript, Flash, server side script, etc. But they have the design sense of a chimp on acid.
When I went back to the States about ten years ago, and couldn’t get a decent job because people were obsessed with these certifications, MCSE, Cisco qualified, blah blah. My experience and degree in Electrical Engineering were getting trumped by idiots who had taken (and spent the requisite money on) these multiple choice exams. So I’m not crazy about accreditations.
BTW, a couple typos, stigmata is the bearing of wounds similar to the crucifixion of Jesus, I think you mean stigma. And one loses a project, one lets loose (or slips) the dogs of war ;) Also, I really like the wide format blog style.
BEC Development Blog
July 2009
[...] here to read the rest: Do Web designers need a body? — Christopher Hill Posted in Web Design. Tags: a-company-that, a-couple-weeks, carsonified, home, [...]
Christopher Hill
July 2009
Absolutely. I completely agree. No one wakes up one morning and instantly becomes talented in a profession or activity. I find it more amusing (and saddening at the same time) that companies are willing to place their business in the hands of, essentially, a novice. You get what you pay for.
All qualifications need to be assessed for what they really are and how well respected the accreditation is. For the most part they don’t mean too much, just showing that the individual has the motivation to learn. Also, oops, that will teach me for writing at 7am on a Saturday morning.
Aden Kelly
July 2009
I can totally see where you are coming from Chris. My only concern is for individuals like myself. Though I follow standards quite rigidly, I feel alienated from the industry as I have no formal qualification. Does this make me any less educated?
My suggestion is if this path is taken; testing is required to check the knowledge of the “developer”. Possibly even a class scheme similar to driving licenses. This way it doesn’t totally close the industry off to less experienced web professionals.
Christopher Hill
July 2009
In terms of formal education, yes. In terms of talent and understanding, no. As previously mentioned, formal education with regards to the Web doesn’t really prove anything, just that you have the motivation to learn. Throughout my years at university I saw people who were useless who would probably graduate. Albeit with a poor grade.
mjcpk
August 2009
The problem I find most is that people outside of the industry are only aware of the term ‘web designer’. To them a web designer creates websites in their entirety when in reality they are lumping the work of graphic designers, web designers, web developers and SEO professionals into one.
The internet has been changing at such a pace that public understanding of it hasn’t kept pace with it. That also leads on to a problems for professional accreditation: what do I need to know to be accredited? These skills will quickly become out of date and irrelevant and, effectively, so does my qualification.
P-C
August 2009
Thank you for an interesting read!
How about web cowboys that actually adher to standards and become professional in their line of business?