Help me explain when I only want to keep working
November 2, 2007 10:59 AM Subscribe
I wish for a web site full of pre-written explanations, or links to such collected here, for various good web practices, so that I can send them to my clients (some of whom are pro-bono) when I'm too impatient or frustrated to calmly say why editing the web _shouldn't_ be like editing a "Word" document; or why putting a huge snapshot on their home page isn't a good idea...
... or why it's OK for me to charge my hourly rate, which is more than the hourly rate they're making at their job;
or why a web page that displays well at a smaller browser size is worth the design tradeoffs of not filling up a 1024x768 window size;
or why we really can't control Google rankings;
etc.
I'd like well-written, concise, patient-enough text. I think I'm capable of knowing what will fly and what won't (except for this whole concept). It's just that when I'm in "design" mode, or "coding" mode, I find that I'm really not in "communication" mode. I've thought about writing such things myself, but I don't have time.
I know that individuals have written explanations about this stuff at various times, probably on various blogs, and individual topic references would be welcome; maybe this thread can be a collection like I envision. But has someone already seen this need and made a collection like this? Even a really good, extremely short book that I could give my clients might be nice.
Usually, my clients trust me, but I do want to be able to explain things when they ask.
... or why it's OK for me to charge my hourly rate, which is more than the hourly rate they're making at their job;
or why a web page that displays well at a smaller browser size is worth the design tradeoffs of not filling up a 1024x768 window size;
or why we really can't control Google rankings;
etc.
I'd like well-written, concise, patient-enough text. I think I'm capable of knowing what will fly and what won't (except for this whole concept). It's just that when I'm in "design" mode, or "coding" mode, I find that I'm really not in "communication" mode. I've thought about writing such things myself, but I don't have time.
I know that individuals have written explanations about this stuff at various times, probably on various blogs, and individual topic references would be welcome; maybe this thread can be a collection like I envision. But has someone already seen this need and made a collection like this? Even a really good, extremely short book that I could give my clients might be nice.
Usually, my clients trust me, but I do want to be able to explain things when they ask.
The simple answer: charge a higher rate so customers won't waste your time with these discussions. If you clients really do trust you, they may just be devaluing your opinions because of the price you sell them for.
posted by backupjesus at 11:18 AM on November 2, 2007
posted by backupjesus at 11:18 AM on November 2, 2007
Response by poster: jejune - thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not looking for a list of what good web practices _are_, rather for the explanations _behind_ the practices. And I'm hoping for writing that's aimed at my clients, rather than at prospective web developers.
backupjesus - a good point; they're not really wasting my time, I just want to be able to explain things.
I realized as I wrote this answer that, while clients are what I mentioned in my original question, I've mainly come up against this when trying to work with designers. Most are trained as "graphic designers", and they don't really understand web stuff, even if they've taken a class in Dreamweaver or HTML. I can tell them that they should make web design more flexible, maybe their instructor even told them (if they actually _have_ taken a class), but a capsule explanation might serve as a helpful tool.
posted by amtho at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2007
backupjesus - a good point; they're not really wasting my time, I just want to be able to explain things.
I realized as I wrote this answer that, while clients are what I mentioned in my original question, I've mainly come up against this when trying to work with designers. Most are trained as "graphic designers", and they don't really understand web stuff, even if they've taken a class in Dreamweaver or HTML. I can tell them that they should make web design more flexible, maybe their instructor even told them (if they actually _have_ taken a class), but a capsule explanation might serve as a helpful tool.
posted by amtho at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2007
Always, always, always bring it back to the end customer: for whom are you designing the web site or application? Does the design, the widget, the copy serve their interests, goals and needs? In an ideal world, you'll have a set of personas for the brand, to which you can turn repeatedly as backup for the decisions you make. Failing that, use common sense. Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think is an excellent resource.
But it's also, possibly, a losing battle: trying to explain things like usability to people who don't know anything about it is like speaking Swahili to a bird. Do the best you can, accept the decision and move on.
posted by gsh at 11:48 AM on November 2, 2007
But it's also, possibly, a losing battle: trying to explain things like usability to people who don't know anything about it is like speaking Swahili to a bird. Do the best you can, accept the decision and move on.
posted by gsh at 11:48 AM on November 2, 2007
http://www.alvit.de/web-dev/written-and-unwritten-rules-and-standards.html is a great resource.
posted by ShawnStruck at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2007
posted by ShawnStruck at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2007
Whoops.
Written and Unwritten Rules is a great resource.
posted by ShawnStruck at 11:56 AM on November 2, 2007
Written and Unwritten Rules is a great resource.
posted by ShawnStruck at 11:56 AM on November 2, 2007
Response by poster: ShawnStruck - that is a good site -- thanks!
It's more for my own consumption, but I look forward to perusing it.
However, either my question isn't clear, or what I want doesn't exist. The latter would not surprise me.
What I'm looking for is someone else explaining stuff with the client's needs in mind. gsh, thanks for the reminder about personas; but I'm hoping for not making *me* think when I'm very in design/coding/whatever-not-communication mode (which is most of the time). Maybe think of it as some stuff the customer can review before I meet with them, or before they hire me?
I know I can write my own -- it looks like I probably will -- but if someone else has done this already, it could be a valuable resource worth sharing.
posted by amtho at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2007
It's more for my own consumption, but I look forward to perusing it.
However, either my question isn't clear, or what I want doesn't exist. The latter would not surprise me.
What I'm looking for is someone else explaining stuff with the client's needs in mind. gsh, thanks for the reminder about personas; but I'm hoping for not making *me* think when I'm very in design/coding/whatever-not-communication mode (which is most of the time). Maybe think of it as some stuff the customer can review before I meet with them, or before they hire me?
I know I can write my own -- it looks like I probably will -- but if someone else has done this already, it could be a valuable resource worth sharing.
posted by amtho at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2007
www.usability.gov maybe what you are looking for especially in the realms of accessibility. But may not cover everything.
posted by jadepearl at 12:15 PM on November 2, 2007
posted by jadepearl at 12:15 PM on November 2, 2007
You can't do the equivalent of "Here, go read this, I don't want to talk to you" with clients. You have to sit and explain things to them. That this annoys or frustrates you is your problem, not the clients. Yes, it takes time and has to be done multiple times, but it's an important step when communicating with and building a relationship with clients.
Think about it, if you wanted a plumber to fix something in your house and you wanted to know why he was using this type of pipe as opposed to that type of pipe and he handed you something to read over or referred you to a bunch of papers he handed you when first came over, how would you feel? Most people would immediately get pissed off at the plumber for not answering their question directly.
As for this question:
... or why it's OK for me to charge my hourly rate, which is more than the hourly rate they're making at their job;
It's ok because that's what you need to charge to run a successful business. If they do like that, they can do it themselves at whatever price they wish. You should never be nasty about this, but you're a business and you charge what you charge. Either people can pay (with 1/3 to 1/2 upfront) or they can't, in which case you refer them to someone else, while leaving the door open to return to you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2007
Think about it, if you wanted a plumber to fix something in your house and you wanted to know why he was using this type of pipe as opposed to that type of pipe and he handed you something to read over or referred you to a bunch of papers he handed you when first came over, how would you feel? Most people would immediately get pissed off at the plumber for not answering their question directly.
As for this question:
... or why it's OK for me to charge my hourly rate, which is more than the hourly rate they're making at their job;
It's ok because that's what you need to charge to run a successful business. If they do like that, they can do it themselves at whatever price they wish. You should never be nasty about this, but you're a business and you charge what you charge. Either people can pay (with 1/3 to 1/2 upfront) or they can't, in which case you refer them to someone else, while leaving the door open to return to you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2007
Your client's needs are unique, so it's doubtful you'll ever be able to find a be all and end all source for all your clients.
It sounds like you need to outsource client management--maybe look into partnering with a seasoned freelance AM or PM?
posted by gsh at 1:09 PM on November 2, 2007
It sounds like you need to outsource client management--maybe look into partnering with a seasoned freelance AM or PM?
posted by gsh at 1:09 PM on November 2, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jejune at 11:17 AM on November 2, 2007