How to Hire a Web Designer

[ArticleBot]

This is an article discussion thread for discussing the SitePoint article, "How to Hire a Web Designer"

[blackdiamond]

the timeframe matters. If you have alot of time at your disposal you can ask a few freelancers to create some quick, rough sketches.

I am a freelancer myself and i have worked with others and with big firms. The overall quality of work is the same, in the end. The main difference is that with a freelancer you can get acquainted very well and build up a trusting relationship (i'm only talking about the cases (s)he deserves it.

sometimes you might alse want to consider the long-term relationship with the firm/freelancer: how much will it cost you to make minimal or pretty big changes to your website?

[realestate]

It is not very easy to get references about a web designer. An alternative is to ask web designer to show previous work and explain how they work (looks not enough).

[Dean C]

This is really freaky, I was thinking in the shower this morning about writing an article on this exact subject for sitepoint. I kid you not :o

Here's how I see the questions you need to ask yourself (as an employer), ordered by importance:
* What kinds of information do you want on the site? How big do you think your site will be?
* Will your site require regular updates? Would you like to make changes yourself?
* What is your budget?
* When do you need the job done?
* Who are your users? Do you know which operating system and browser they are using?
* Will you be selling something?
I think the questions below are too "techy" for a non-web-developer therefore need to be taken care of by the developer.
* Will you need a database to store and retrieve information?
* Do you want to rely on search engines to send more traffic to your site?

[hgilbert]

Is that what you think about while having a shower?

damn - I must evolve!

[5StarAffiliates]

I'm sure this article will help lots of people. I personally feel that shopping for a designer is the hardest thing on earth to shop for.
(2nd only to shopping for a new dentist)

With both - its pretty hard to know for sure how good the work will be and how painful the process was, until AFTER the work is actually finished. :-)

[hgilbert]

I think it was IBM that said only 20% of all software is either delivered in time and within budget
While 40% actually never gets delivered at all.
I suppose same thing applies for web design.

I gave up looking for an assisting web-designer since long

[mrsmiley]

hgilbert, dont knock the shower!!! Some of my best (and craziest) ideas come to my while I'm in the shower. Mind you writing them down at the time is a little difficult.

Anyone know where I can get some waterproof paper? :)

[mrsmiley]

Does that mean that 40% is delivered on time AND on budget?

You do realise you have to take that into context with the organisation in question? My software/sites/etc are 100% delivered on time, and I have about a 95-99% on budget target rate as well. Its not worth being in business if you cant deliver what you promise.

It's good to know how to judge what web designer or design company will work best for your project, but why not include the best ways of researching and finding names of good designers and developers? How do people find designers? Do you recommend the use of search engines, forums, or directories?

[Alexandra]

Originally Posted by realestate

It is not very easy to get references about a web designer. An alternative is to ask web designer to show previous work and explain how they work (looks not enough).

I don't know what it's like where you're based but in Australia, most web designers/developers get testimonials from all their clients and display them on their website. I don't see why it would be a problem if the designer is good at what they do.

[hgilbert]

@mrsmiley

my best ideas comes when i am extremely bored
so i've been pretty creative while living in England

about the IBM stats - I really wanted to find the original quote
because you know people say and spread untruths
and i like backing up statements
i remember it was a triangle and it was on a printed course for UML design
but it said figures provided by IBM
i searched and searched and never found it on the web.

For webdesigners I had too much problem finding them.
I dont want someone extremely experienced
(on the contrary) someone who would be more of an assistant.

I contacted people in Brazil but they seemed so unreliable, unfocused and hard to get hold of (replied emails after 1 month or so, if that)
I've contacted some Chinese webdesigners and although immediately responsive they seemed very greedy. One example was this girl who didn't how to program very well, the idea was that I would teach her as we went along - and her quote? $200 per page!

I wanted to outsource some stuff - because I waste too much time with silly things like gifs, or logo design, or writing up text <-- that is the hardest
.
In England I tried finding students to help me out - but they weren't interested.
I would have loved the opportunity when I was a student - what's wrong with people?
When I was on my teens I would do some lil work fixing a computer or so and get £20-£50. But these days youngsters are too proud.

I don't trust anyone anymore
But I don't mind sharing work with myself

[flywire]

Marketplaces such as www.flywire.com.au provide a good way for people who need a site done to review a lot of service providers online, view portfolios and prices.

[hexaZen]

Re: How do people find designers?

I agree the article is not complete without mentioning this. Referrals is just one way. There are international and local web design directories, such as the one mentioned by flywire in Australia. Many are free listings so designers should register in at least the popular directories. Use the search engine to find the directories in your area. Forums and sites such as Sitepoint receive many skilled and talented people who contribute information/advise and that could be a place to find someone. Last but not least, make a note of websites that you like and find out who the designer/developer is. The designer's link is usually indicated at the bottom of the page.

[hgilbert]

i like the "Sell your Services" sections here
and how people can just auction a job (although auction is not the right word!)
One guy wanted a logo retouched but didn't have the time.
I was tempted to help him - just for the fun of it really.
But some 6 people jumped in before and finally he had his problem fixed for some price under $80. That is neat.
We can't be good at everything, and sometimes something which can so easily be solved under 10 minutes by a person could take us weeks.
Like recently I had to transform 6 Flash buttons into GIFs - what a nightmare
(one I really could do without)

I need to find someone who is very good at writing.
A person that can write extremely well - opening paragraphs, colourful metaphors, web-writing (sweet short simple), creative writing, technical writing, name branding - absolutely impossible to find. And if there is one - I am sure it would cost a massive fortune without any guarantee of delivery.

I can write but it takes me for ever and ever
- the result is good in the end but its drains all my time and efforts which i rather have not invested just for a measly paragraph or two.

[Mapo]

About finding designers:

You can always put an ad in the classified section in your local newspaper. Just put together some copy to identify what you're looking for (a designer), what the designer's role will be, what they'll be doing, the qualifications, how much experience you're looking for, etc and let them come to you. You can include in the ad to have interested parties email you a resume and 2-3 sample urls if you want, so you can see their stuff.

Make it easy for yourself. Give yourself options. If you put something in the classifieds, the options are going to come to you. Then you can pick out which one you want, with some really important factors being considered such as experience, qualifications, (such as knowledge of certain programs, languages, visual concepts), etc, and sample urls to see, all right there in front of you. Simple. Just might cost you for the ad but it's entirely a worthwhile investment.

Here in NYC, if you need a designer, you will definitely GET responses from the classifieds. From everyone and from everywhere. It might not be like that in your neck of the woods, but there are more designers out there than you might think.

[jadah]

Nice

[abwebs]

Great article except I'm not sure I agree with the 100% money back guarantee. I explain it to my web clients like this "we make sure you are 100% satisfied with your web site".

[TaylorAtCTS]

Great job, thanks for the good artice. As a web designer it gave me a better persective from my clients point of view

Excellent advice! I intend to link to it from our website, and to point all potential clients to this article.

I do agree with adwebs - rather than 100% money back guarantee, we tell our clients that we won't stop working until they're happy. Of course, we back it up with telling them that 50% of the cost isn't due until implementation, so that probably helps.

IMNSHO, the most important question a client can ask themself is "what is my measure of success?" Most have no clue. They dream about "#1 in Google" without having anything for a visitor to do (no less ever come back). It all stems from not having a business plan to guide STRATEGY. The value a professional brings is to help build, or stick to, a strategy. This blows away "are the pages short?" That's nonsense. The most important thing a "designer" can do is ask "Why" and force the client to THINK. It's a *lot* tougher than it sounds ;-)

I tried posting this comment once already, but apparently it didn't appear.

I offered my thoughts on the article here:

http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/002292.html

What can I say, great article and she is incredibly good looking. What more can you ask for!

[shadowbox]

Originally Posted by abwebs

Great article except I'm not sure I agree with the 100% money back guarantee. I explain it to my web clients like this "we make sure you are 100% satisfied with your web site".

Yeah, I'm not too sure that a money back guarantee for a service is ever a good idea, it's not like a book or DVD which can be returned without too much loss to anyone. Brendan recommends this in the WDBT, and in theory if the client signs approval sheets for each stage of the project, the worse that can happen is you have to refund the last unapproved stage, but...the idea of having to refund an awkward client for say, 15 hours of my life is not someting I look forward to.

We offer a guarantee on our work, but not a 'money back' one - i.e. if there's a bug/error in the scripts we created, we'll set about fixing it straight away and free of charge, although this is null and void if any third party starts messing with the site.

There's quite a few threads on this subject knocking about these forums, worth a read.