Webdesign - Tip 1

[CyberHippie]

What you get for 6,000 baht?

Not much.

Certainly no real consideration to making your website of any value.

 

The video link below goes to a video that explains how the simple form can actually lose you many clients or if done right, can increase your client base. It does go into a lot of detail and hones in on user experience and what you need to do to make it a good experience for them.

 

So, lets just start the tips with a simple form. Most of you have filled one at some time or other.

You also hear good designers talking about eye movement research in a design of a page and this video goes into that subject, to demonstrate how important it is to know these details.

 

There are people who figure out how to get the last drop of productivity from the internet and do some great research for designers to view and also to let those buying a designers talent, to understand why some charge as much as they do.

6,000 baht designers normally dont view articles like these, because they just want your cash and dont really care about putting client research into a site they build for you. Not all, just most!

 

Follow this lecture if you want to know more about form design or the process and understand why paying more to get a quality designer, does actually end up putting more profit in your back pocket. (That also goes for electricians, mechanics, plumbers etc...)

 

Click here to watch the video

 

I will follow on with more tips, not only for those that want a website, but to those that create them, to better understand why it is important to keep abreast of research, technology and recent developments.

 

EDIT: Sorry, I wasnt aware it is in Silverlight... BUT...The quality of the video and audio are great.

Edited October 16, 2009 by CyberHippie

[smerc]

Best bet is wordpress with the gallery plugins installed and cforms/headspace.

 

I will watching the video, just need silverlight. :( I am trying to avoid updates and SP2 for vista at all costs

[CyberHippie]

Wordpress is great, if you dont mind being tied down to specific format and can code customization into your project if needed. I think Joomla is also great, but its a nightmare in the backend for new users. Other ones are e109, oscommerce(garbage) and CMSimple to name a few.

Good designers create a CMS to a client specification which is then tailored to specific needs with the clients customers in mind. Crappy designers can only code HTML.

 

Vista... hmm I suffered with that for too long (reminds me of millenium)... Things got so much better when I went to W7

[CyberHippie]

There are some nasty bugs going around that are attacking Wordpress and Joomla and compromising websites. Because its free and opensource, hackers can view the code to make sites work and can then create scripts for SQL Injection attacks or whatever.

 

From a wordpress forum dated "October 15, 2009 at 8:15 pm"

 

My site and blog were also hacked by the latest wordpress worm. It’s important to also look in your sql database, particularly in the wp_users category: if you’re the only admin, there should only be records that pertain to you (tagged with “1″); all others should be deleted. Also check the users meta data: this is where I found a JS file that contained hidden redirect code. Another place is the “uploads” folder: you may find a cached javascript file that shouldn’t be there, or a tinymce.gz file: delete both. Check your blog/database daily after you install a clean copy to make sure it stays clean.

Edited October 24, 2009 by CyberHippie

[dudebrah]

The problem i find with webdesigners is they are too difficult to communicate with . If your not technically savvy they seem to get their shit in a knot and push your site to the back of the list

 

whilst they may be great designers , they need too much direction and hand holding , which takes too much of my time

[CyberHippie]

Yep.. I agree with you 100% ...

However.. some of us actually explain why this does that... why you dont need this... why you do need this and being a pro, we understand, not only the technical things, but how to explain them in a non-technical manner.

 

I recently went to visit a design firm who was after a designer and was amazed at how little they knew of design/code/servers/graphics and how petty they thought of designers with the salary offering. They have been offering a position for months and months and to no avail, because they want to pay rock bottom wages for high delivery websites. They post in pattaya mail classifieds every week and to this date, dont have any takers.

 

But I guess thats the difference between a Pro and a "Yes I made a website once, so I will call myself a webdesigner" type people

 

In many cases.. designers are requested to know what a client wants... I normally map out the framework of a site while in consultation with a client.. then I will ask for some designs that the client wants. The more input I get from the client, the more I can build to his/her wishes... I try and leave as little guess work as possible

Edited October 25, 2009 by CyberHippie