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7 ways to keep web development costs down
Many web development projects - large and small alike -
can produce difficulties for both sides of the
designer/client relationship. There are opportunities for
designers and clients to become frustrated. Most
businesses have little experience of commissioning web
projects, and for designers it is difficult to communicate
their needs to clients.
There are a number of concepts that will help both
sides of the relationship, and most importantly from the
client side of the equation, keep costs down.
Spend Smart
Remember what services you are buying. Paying a web
designer to carry out data entry or word-processing tasks
for your web project is not a cost effective use of your
web budget.
Unless you are engaging your designer to carry out
copywriting or copyediting services for you, try to ensure
that the source materials are in a form as close to the
final product as possible.
Plan Properly
Get as much work done up front as possible. Changes are
easier in the planning stages than in the execution. If
you are uncomfortable with the colours or layout at the
concept sketch stage, it is safer not to assume that the
niggles will 'grow on you' as time goes by.
Trust Your Designer
Trust your web designer. Whilst it is true that the
customer is always right, but the designer should be more
experienced in the field of Internet design and
development, and should be able to offer you plenty of
constructive advice at all stages. If you cannot trust
your web designer, you may need to find another web
designer that you can.
Know What You Want
Try to establish your own requirements in advance. The
more information you can present to your web designer on
who your company is, what your company does, your target
audience, and so on, the better.
Building a basic profile of your requirements before
engaging a designer is free. Having a designer build a
profile of your requirements from scratch will be
chargeable, even if the charge is not transparent.
Concentrate on your goals and objectives.
Think Results Not Methods
Think more about what you want to achieve than how you
want to do it. A goal-oriented approach makes the
communication between client and designer easier -
especially if the terminology is unclear.
Concentrating on your goals and objectives will mean
that you are detailing your requirements based on your own
area of expertise: your business.
Again, place trust in your designer's experience -
present your designer with the goals you are trying to
achieve, or the functionality you are looking for, and let
them present you with the best solutions.
Keep it Clear
Make sure that the documentation at all stages of the
project is clear and understood by both parties.
If there is any relevant terminology specific to your
market or industry, make sure the designer knows what it
means - and vice versa: your designer should explain any
specialised concepts used.
If your designer is presenting you with something that
is unclear or unintelligible, let them know as soon as
possible - if you understand what they are talking about,
you will be able to understand what they are
delivering.
Remember Who's Who
In every web development project the client has a role
and the designer has a role. Remember which is which.
If you are paying your designer to fulfil your
requirements, let them do so. If you are going to do the
work yourself, why pay a designer?
The design process should be a collaboration - it makes
it far more likely that the end product will be something
that you are happy to be paying for. Provided you have
chosen a good designer, remember that you know your
business, and they know design. It is up to you to tell
your designer about your business, and up to your designer
to tell you about design.
The little things can keep any supplier-customer
relationship running smoothly - the seven points in this
article are just some of the ways in which the
designer-client relationship can be made that little bit
more harmonious.
About the Author Jon Wilson is an independent writer, consultant and developer, bringing high quality internet services within reach of small businesses in a time effective, cost effective manner. For more information and articles, see his site at http://www.notbob.co.uk or email jon.wilson@threespot.co.uk
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