Posts Tagged ‘professionalism’
The Most Important Element of a Professional Designer
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010How Not to Inquire
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Yesterday I received the following email, with attachment:
“Please review the attachment and the information on my historic interactive pictorial menu and then pass on your estimate of price and delivery to produce the software. The menu will be located on a website I designed on Web Easy Professional 7.”
Other than being signed with the sender’s name, that was it. I did not open the attachment. Instead I just chuckled and hit “delete.”
This is not how to inquire after hiring an agency. And I’m not talking about the inanity having a website “designed on Web Easy Professional7” nor even the utter rudeness of having no “hello” or other opening salutation. I’m referring more to the idea that I or anyone else can offer an estimate for price and delivery to produce software based on an “attachment” with information.
A design project is not an interaction between two computers or two email accounts or even a person and a requirements list, and the context is not merely the design and delivery of software. A design project is an interaction between people; people with a host of respective motivations, requirements, personalities, expectations, questions, responsibilities, inside and outside obligations, and many other things that are relevant to the scope of the project and the work that will happen within it. A direct conversation, face-to-face or by phone, is the bare minimum requirement for any intelligent consideration by either involved party.
Inquiries like the one above show a lack of intelligent consideration. I suggest that you never work with people who are comfortable with that.
We Refuse
Saturday, March 7th, 2009Maybe you’ve heard that there is a recession on in the U.S. and that economies are suffering all over the world. Well, we refuse to participate in this recession.
Unemployment is rising and maybe we’re supposed to lay-off staff, but instead we’re hiring additional staff. The housing market is in the tank and you’re not supposed to buy or sell a house right now, but one of Unit’s families is purchasing a new house this month. You’re not supposed to make any significant changes in your life right now, but another of our families is moving from a small city to the big city. Conventional business wisdom touts the use of communications technology as an inexpensive, foul weather substitute for in-person contact, but this year our company is planning more air travel and more face-to-face visits than ever.
These decisions might surprise some, but they’re the right decisions. We refuse to employ recession-based decision making because we’re not participating in this recession.
We’ve raised pay for our staff. We’ve hired experts, not low-wage warm bodies. We’ve purchased additional computer equipment, furniture, and additional software licenses. We’re growing our business by making good business decisions. We’re doing what businesses are supposed to do to keep the market healthy and we’re crafting our own market results. That’s how the market is supposed to work.
Market stress is causing some businesses to become increasingly protective of their corner of the market. They’re playing a zero-sum game and believe they must hoard clients. We refuse to play that game. We’re sharing more work than ever, partnering with other agencies. Additionally, we’re working on a low-cost app that is meant to help build business for other designers and developers (our “competitors”). We refuse to participate in a fear-driven, cannibalistic market.
We don’t want any federal bailout. We don’t want any reward for irresponsible behavior in our market. We don’t want artificial support of any kind for our market. We want to do business in a self-sustaining market and we will live with the consequences of our decisions and our actions …and we’ll make our decisions and will act with that in mind.
Times are tough and we know that some are living through a recession, but we refuse to participate in it.
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Update: In answer to some notes I’ve received: no, this is not business as usual. This is business as it’s supposed to be.
Under the Table
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Freelance Switch has an article this morning entitled, “Freelancing Under the Table: The Pros and Cons.” It takes a slow, meandering path toward gently recommending that you might find it difficult when engaging in the unethical, illegal, unprofessional practice of taking cash under-the-table from clients. The article is filled with amoral, nonjudgmental passages like this:
“The IRS may be the stuff your nightmares are made of, but the simple fact is that if you take money under the table once or twice, you aren’t going to have a problem. Even if a client reports income that you didn’t expect to pay taxes on, you can probably manage the situation.”
And concludes with another gentle reminder:
“…Before taking on a project under the table, think about the issues that go along with it.”
Wow. Can you imagine such an article in a legal professionals’ publication? Or in a medical professionals’ publication? Freelance Switch has clearly established itself as the leader in providing irresponsible advice to design professionals. Imagine if your clients, in the course of learning about your profession, happens upon that article. Now imagine the impression that they’ll form about you and your profession. Does this sort of advice directed at design professionals inspire confidence in designers or in the profession as a whole? Quite the opposite. This article—and others like it that have been published on this rag—are detrimental to our practice and our profession. Further, they can only inspire our potential clients to view our profession with a jaundiced eye. Thanks, FS.
This was an excellent opportunity to advise professionalism to design professionals. This was a no-brainer, folks. The article should have simply stated that illegal and unethical practices have no place in the design profession. Period. Shame on the author for crafting such an irresponsible article and shame on Freelance Switch for publishing it.
Strong Connections
Friday, January 30th, 2009
Some people just have a knack for effectively participating in the conversation that is the Web. John DeGroote is one of them. He’s just doing it right. John is a litigation attorney and dispute resolution specialist who is keen to share his perspectives on settlement negotiation with people online (hence the name of his blog).
Now, I’m not a settlement litigator and I’m not currently in need of negotiation advice, but I find his posts compelling and I think he’s got a great little newsletter …in an era when newsletters are made almost obsolete by blogs. In John’s case, however, his newsletter is effective in sparking my interest and engaging my curiosity (note: his is an email newsletter, but he’s posted this one online to give people a peek at what they’re missing if they don’t subscribe). John always writes with a voice that connects strongly and his newsletter expresses things that are relevant to his topical context and people’s curiosity about what’s coming next on his blog.
Having spent hours with John, I can attest to the fact that he is exactly who you “see” on his blog. He’s effective at delivering his genuine personality online. In short, they guy delivers: excellent content on a regular basis, written in a compelling and natural voice. He even dares to share what’s coming soon—whetting appetites. Folks wanting to learn how to effectively (and honestly) conduct an online conversation with people would do well to study Settlement Perspectives. This is how you do it, folks.
One for the Idealists
Monday, October 13th, 2008This past weekend, I had the opportunity to watch Gary Cooper in “The Fountainhead” ? (1949). This clip sums up the main protagonist’s struggle, and I think it is indicative of every designer’s effort to keep integrity in their work.
The book by Ayn Rand, adapted for film here (Ayn actually wrote the screenplay herself, so there can be no confusion as to the message of the film), is often criticized for being idealistic; creating characters and results that could not possibly exist in the “real world”. As designers, though, we have dedicated our lives to idealism. We know we can never achieve perfection, but aspire to it every day in our work, and therefore we should take the example of Mr. Roark here as inspiration for how we can hope to be, though we may not always be able to achieve his level of absolutism.
The movie (and book, for you literate types) is a thorough exploration of such absolutes, almost specifically dealing with creativity and ideas. Check it out when you get a chance.
BTW – The director, King Vidor, also gets a special nod in the “Director with the Most Intimidating Name” category.
Is the Pricing Right?
Friday, October 3rd, 2008This week our own Nathan Ford published a cutting essay on website design pricing approach, and how some agencies’ pricing amounts to little more than looting. Among other things, Nathan notes that some agencies and individuals rely on the fog of understanding surrounding Web technology production to artificially and unscrupulously inflate project pricing in order to find the maximum a client will agree to pay.
“?A price that is based on anything other than an honest appraisal of efforts, though, and extorted from the uninformed by means of shady, smoke-and-mirrors tactics, should not be misconstrued as mere capitalistic gains. By all definitions, that’s thievery.”
These issues are worthy of examination and reexamination in the interest of individual professionalism and industry health. Whether you’re a freelancer or an agency designer or owner, I highly recommend reading Nathan’s essay and then devoting some time to reflection.
Radio Frequencies
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Every morning on my drive to work, I pass the time with a little help from my radio. Its usually just background noise that helps me make the short transition from home to work, but lately, I’ve noticed an alarming trend in radio commercials, at least in the Dallas area, to use car horns as part of their advertisements. I cry, “Poor design!” and here’s why:
1. The purpose of a car horn is to communicate with fellow drivers on the road, especially in a dangerous situation. The horns in these ads are crying wolf and undermine the importance of and desensitize us to the actual sound.
2. I am sure the creator of the ad intended the car horn to act as a way to catch the listeners attention and make their ad stand out, hopefully in a positive way. At least for me, this has the opposite effect. I get so irritated when I hear a horn misused on the radio that I immediately turn the station without listening to the rest of the ad and if I do happen to catch the name of the advertiser, I have negative feelings toward them for being so irresponsible.
3. C’mon poeple, be creative! How much more predictable can you get than using a horn sound effect for a car dealership commercial. You are not distinguishing your brand from any of the other hundreds of car-related business out there.
So please, Mr. Radio Ad Producer, spend some time to thoughtfully design the ads your clients are paying good money for. The result might just be an ad that actually works.