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02-28-2002, 11:46 AM
Chris Kalaboukis
Chris is CTO of SwapSmarts - the brain2brain network, an expert advice
marketplace. He has 17+ years of experience in internet, information
technology and business development with high-end Web design, wireless,
high-speed Internet deployment (via cable modem) and entertainment
companies. The Next Wave - Small Web Designers Take Over
Whether you're a Web designer, or have worked with Web design
vendors, the business has changed greatly over the last few years. While
there has been huge change in this marketplace, there are a few main
streams which are developing, most of which represent positive trends
for the independent Web consultant.
In-House IT Gets the
Guernsey
Larger Fortune 500 firms now have handed most of the
responsibility for Web work to their internal Information Technology
(IT) departments. While marketing continues to have a say, IT will make
most of the vendor decisions. This is a shift which could be problematic
for Web design shops or individual consultants if they have
traditionally dealt with marketing departments and maintained those
relationships.
Marketing and IT departments have traditionally been
at odds within most companies. Many Web design firms may not have the
technical breadth and depth to be IT consultants; therefore they have
never really built strong ties with IT. Because they haven't
established these ties, it may become more difficult for Web designers
to gain business from companies' internal IT departments. However, many
independent consultants who moved into the Web space do have an IT
background, and therefore they can easily make the transition to
consulting to an IT department, rather than Marketing.
As these
clients realise that the Web means more than brochureware, and they seek
to provide users with more functionality, the site's evolution becomes
more dependent upon the business's legacy systems. As they become more
connected to the business systems, the standard bearer of business
systems (IT) necessarily becomes more involved. And as IT becomes more
involved, they're likely to turn to the contractors they've used in
the past. Usually these are independent IT consultants or larger
consulting firms they may already have used to do other IT consulting
work.
Medium or Application?
The Web is moving from medium to
application. As it does so, the user experience becomes part of an
application, whereas previously it was the application. For example,
when the Web was young, it was more of a medium: similar to TV and
radio, it was not that interactive, and while there was some
interactivity, this functionality wasn't usually interconnected with
core business practices. The look and feel and interface were important;
the creation of an optimal user experience was the goal. In a few cases,
there was a defined task flow that the user could follow, but in the
early days, users were expected to explore, rather than be
guided.
Now, as the Web becomes more of an application, the look and
feel has become less important that successfully assisting the user to
complete their task, and in the online environment, this is a skill that
requires more than adept graphic design (which, though it does help, is
not the whole picture).
Ad-hoc interface standards have now emerged.
It is no longer necessary to come up with new interfaces and task flows
for every site: standard web paradigms have been developed, which can,
and should, be reused in new designs. For example: a product company
Website might use these standard navigation items: products, support,
customers, about us, contact us.
Developers are a Dime A Dozen!
As
budgets tighten, clients no longer see a vast difference between the
larger Web design shops such as Scient and Razorfish, 2-5 person firms,
or even independent consultants working form their homes. As long as the
developer produces a quality product in good time at a reasonable price,
they'll be considered. Those who are able to provide similar services
at lower cost will win the job.
Big Web firms have dissolved into
breakaway smaller shops with the same personnel, and these shops have
been able to take and complete business that the original firm was
unable to produce profitably. In some cases, independent consultants can
do the same work at a much lower cost by pulling together an ad-hoc team
of developers to work on a project-by-project basis.
What we're
seeing is the commoditization of the Web design market. Large companies
facing budget cuts, are no longer interested in dealing only with name
brand firms: A Fortune 500 such as Cisco is just as happy to deal with
Brand X Design as they are with Razorfish, because when they consider
the final designs side-by-side, they can't see enough of a difference
to justify the extra cost of a big design firm. While there usually are
small dissimilarities in quality and usability, to the layperson this
difference does not present enough of a value-add to justify the
increased cost.
Over to You...
Small firms and independent Web
consultants are taking over the space the big boys used to play in --
and they're doing it profitably. The moral of this story is that small
operators shouldn't be afraid of going for the bigger clients: in this
marketplace, even the bigger companies are looking to small firms and
other "free agents". As long as you produce a professional design and
have the right skills: you can compete with the big boys. You can (in
this economy) win on price and still do great work, both for your
clients and your portfolio.
Chris is CTO of SwapSmarts - the brain2brain network, an expert advice
marketplace. He has 17+ years of experience in internet, information
technology and business development with high-end Web design, wireless,
high-speed Internet deployment (via cable modem) and entertainment
companies. The Next Wave - Small Web Designers Take Over
Whether you're a Web designer, or have worked with Web design
vendors, the business has changed greatly over the last few years. While
there has been huge change in this marketplace, there are a few main
streams which are developing, most of which represent positive trends
for the independent Web consultant.
In-House IT Gets the
Guernsey
Larger Fortune 500 firms now have handed most of the
responsibility for Web work to their internal Information Technology
(IT) departments. While marketing continues to have a say, IT will make
most of the vendor decisions. This is a shift which could be problematic
for Web design shops or individual consultants if they have
traditionally dealt with marketing departments and maintained those
relationships.
Marketing and IT departments have traditionally been
at odds within most companies. Many Web design firms may not have the
technical breadth and depth to be IT consultants; therefore they have
never really built strong ties with IT. Because they haven't
established these ties, it may become more difficult for Web designers
to gain business from companies' internal IT departments. However, many
independent consultants who moved into the Web space do have an IT
background, and therefore they can easily make the transition to
consulting to an IT department, rather than Marketing.
As these
clients realise that the Web means more than brochureware, and they seek
to provide users with more functionality, the site's evolution becomes
more dependent upon the business's legacy systems. As they become more
connected to the business systems, the standard bearer of business
systems (IT) necessarily becomes more involved. And as IT becomes more
involved, they're likely to turn to the contractors they've used in
the past. Usually these are independent IT consultants or larger
consulting firms they may already have used to do other IT consulting
work.
Medium or Application?
The Web is moving from medium to
application. As it does so, the user experience becomes part of an
application, whereas previously it was the application. For example,
when the Web was young, it was more of a medium: similar to TV and
radio, it was not that interactive, and while there was some
interactivity, this functionality wasn't usually interconnected with
core business practices. The look and feel and interface were important;
the creation of an optimal user experience was the goal. In a few cases,
there was a defined task flow that the user could follow, but in the
early days, users were expected to explore, rather than be
guided.
Now, as the Web becomes more of an application, the look and
feel has become less important that successfully assisting the user to
complete their task, and in the online environment, this is a skill that
requires more than adept graphic design (which, though it does help, is
not the whole picture).
Ad-hoc interface standards have now emerged.
It is no longer necessary to come up with new interfaces and task flows
for every site: standard web paradigms have been developed, which can,
and should, be reused in new designs. For example: a product company
Website might use these standard navigation items: products, support,
customers, about us, contact us.
Developers are a Dime A Dozen!
As
budgets tighten, clients no longer see a vast difference between the
larger Web design shops such as Scient and Razorfish, 2-5 person firms,
or even independent consultants working form their homes. As long as the
developer produces a quality product in good time at a reasonable price,
they'll be considered. Those who are able to provide similar services
at lower cost will win the job.
Big Web firms have dissolved into
breakaway smaller shops with the same personnel, and these shops have
been able to take and complete business that the original firm was
unable to produce profitably. In some cases, independent consultants can
do the same work at a much lower cost by pulling together an ad-hoc team
of developers to work on a project-by-project basis.
What we're
seeing is the commoditization of the Web design market. Large companies
facing budget cuts, are no longer interested in dealing only with name
brand firms: A Fortune 500 such as Cisco is just as happy to deal with
Brand X Design as they are with Razorfish, because when they consider
the final designs side-by-side, they can't see enough of a difference
to justify the extra cost of a big design firm. While there usually are
small dissimilarities in quality and usability, to the layperson this
difference does not present enough of a value-add to justify the
increased cost.
Over to You...
Small firms and independent Web
consultants are taking over the space the big boys used to play in --
and they're doing it profitably. The moral of this story is that small
operators shouldn't be afraid of going for the bigger clients: in this
marketplace, even the bigger companies are looking to small firms and
other "free agents". As long as you produce a professional design and
have the right skills: you can compete with the big boys. You can (in
this economy) win on price and still do great work, both for your
clients and your portfolio.