The Rich-Poor Gap. It’s a common topic for many economists and journalists, noting that the economic distance between the rich and poor is growing wider. There are plenty of arguments around this idea, including the notion of the middle class also growing.

I think the same is happening for the web industry. I don’t mean to pick on anyone in particular, but the industry is crowded and it’s quite obvious to me that there are major gaps between the top tier and the bottom tier.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The top tier isn’t limited to the robber barons anymore. Big agencies don’t have a monopoly on talent or clients. Small agencies, independent designers, and internal groups are competing with—or even surpassing—the big design agencies. I’m not talking about finances. I’m talking talent. Check out CSSMania or WebCreme to see hundreds of examples.

The poor, with regard to web design, are those stuck in the web of 1997. The tables-based layouts. The tired, ineffective design elements. Recycled templates that didn’t work then and don’t work now. I’ve been reading Jennifer Kymin’s webdesign.about.com for quite some time, and it’s a poignant reminder to me that the industry isn’t unanimous in its love for web standards or great design. Many of her articles (and the comments that follow) chronicle her fight to defend standards and newer technologies. Yet many of her readers reject these.

Unfortunately, many companies and individuals find it unnecessary to develop their skills. Through complacency or fear, many developers and designers are unwilling to take the next steps to improvement. Companies won’t invest in their employees’ development.

Climbing the Ladder

Unlike economics, it’s not that hard to climb the ladder. It’s not about creating wealth from wealth. Instead, it’s about learning and growing. New coding techniques and creative growth are hard work, but it’s often an internal factor. Every coder or designer I know finds value in working with other talented coders and designers. Talent begets talent. We grow from being challenged.

If you find yourself anywhere but the top (and even then, don’t settle!) there are a few things I suggest. If you’re planning to become top talent, try these:

1. Work with the most talented people you can find. You learn more from being second-best than you do from being the best. This might mean contributing to an open-source project, joining a user group, or taking a new job among more skilled workers.

2. Read. A lot. Read the books, read the blogs, and read the tutorials. If others are willing to teach and you are willing to learn, well… you do the math.

3. Do it. Don’t wait until later to try out the new techniques or methods. Start implementing and doing it. If you don’t have a project to do it on, create one.

4. Teach. If you can teach it, you’ll know it even better. Presenting to a user group, for instance, forces you to understand the material at a more thorough level. And if you can teach someone else to understand it, you have to really know your stuff.

Many of my web projects start off the same: “We need a website.” The customer lays out the project requirements (a new design, n pages, a flash element on the homepage, and a contact form). Or, there are no requirements and they make it up as they go along. And we, the web vendor, provide our estimates for timeline and budget.

This is a mistake.

These requirements often change in the middle of the project. Pages are added. Navigation items are removed. Entire design elements are restructured. The client changes their mind and you end up dealing with it.

Most customers don’t have any idea what they’re doing. They’re not web experts. They’re experts at their own particular business, product, or organization. So why do we let them plan the projects?

We do it because they’re signing the checks. Because we mistakenly equate customer satisfaction with “you get what you want.” In reality, customers don’t know what they want (or why). So it’s up to us to help them.

You start by following the correct process for a creative project. There are three parts to project discovery: goals, strategy, and tactics. Each of these helps set the stage for the project responsibilities-when is the client the expert and when is the vendor the expert. They give you the information you need to make educated decisions down the line.

Goals

Who is responsible: Client

Goals are the endgame. These are business objectives of the client, such as increasing sales or disseminating information. If a website is the answer, these are the questions. The client is the expert at his business, so he gets to tell you what he wants to accomplish. The more detailed these goals are, the better (e.g., increase revenue 15%).

Strategy

Who is responsible: Both client and vendor

This is your chance to collaborate with your client and decide how your client will achieve his goals. This will read like a project brief or summary. Everything you recommend in the strategy should work toward the stated goals. This where you decide whether a website (or print, or television ads, etc.) will meet his needs and why.

Tactics

Who is responsible: Vendor

Here’s where you’re the expert. This is where you decide on the best way to follow through on your strategy. The design, code, and technology are all tactics that you should be deciding. That’s not to say the client can’t have some hand in this, but unless the client knows what he’s doing he should defer to you on all of these aspects. Every decision you make regarding tactics should, ideally, trace back to the project strategy and goals.

A note about technology: I realize that some projects have technology constraints that aren’t ideal. You may not be able to abandon the client’s hosting infrastructure simply to use a certain programming language. If there are real constraints, this becomes part of the strategy stage (e.g., keeping aligned with current infrastructure).

The Real World

Sometimes things don’t work this way. Everyone fancies himself a designer. Clients spit out ridiculous demands like “no CSS” or offer to help code the site. The key to keeping the customer happy isn’t handing over control. It’s keeping them on the right path. Yes, they make the final call because they’re paying for the work. But it’s your job to help them make the best final call.

-5d579e9762ed8ec54df8a9dec578ed9e->

Right after posting my experience about Donovan’s, where we spent more on the meal than we spent on one of our flights home, I found this blog. It’s an amazing story from a guy who voluntarily spent a month with a $1/day food budget. If I had seen this before I went on vacation, I may not have been able to spend so much on my meal.

“For the month of November, I’m only spending $30 on food. The only exception will be things that are freely available to the average person (salt taken from restaurants, sauce packets from Taco Bell, free coffee from an office). Buying in advance is fine, but at the end of the month, it all has to add up to $30 or less.”

Read Hungry for a Month

-c7cccd2f1dbe7a6694ac8563cf6badf9->

Donovan’s

On New Year’s Eve, my wife and I went to Donovan’s in Phoenix. One of two locations, this restaurant experience was nothing short of spectacular. Starting with the dress code and complimentary valet service, we were in awe of the luxurious style. We were welcomed, seated, and introduced to the restaurant and its menu. While we aren’t rich by any stretch, that wasn’t important. What made the experience is that we felt rich.

From the service to the amenities to the quality (prime filet mignon and Australian rock lobster…mmmm), the entire experience was a treat that I’ll remember for many years. I didn’t feel out of place (except when we were leaving the parking lot in our rented minivan, driving past a Ferrari and a Porsche). I’m sure the staff noticed my hiking boots, neatly tucked under my trouser cuff in an attempt to pass them off as casual loafers. But I didn’t feel judged. In fact, I felt like they knew it was a special treat and worked harder to make our experience even more pleasant.

Related Links

Donovan’s Steakhouse

A review of the other Donovan’s which seemed consistent with our experience
http://www.sandiegorestaurants.com/restaurant.cfm?res_id=46

Delta

I hate flying. I always feel nervous, I hate the cramped spaces, and I simply cannot sleep during a flight. So I tend to spend the time reading, staring out the window, or listening to music. On our return flight from Phoenix, we were on a Delta 757. I have to say, this was an excellent flight experience. It’s not like we were in first class. We were in the economy seating.

LCD Screens in the seat backs. Movies and games were $5. Live television ranging from ESPN to Food Network to several news channels. Plus, what looked like a hundred or so albums you could call up and listen to (I checked out the new Flaming Lips album and also got a dose of classic Bob Dylan). Two snacks. Plenty of drinks. Friendly staff.

This satisfaction is partly due to low expectations–people just don’t expect much out of airlines anymore. It starts off with feeling like a criminal as you’re searched at the security gate. You wait and wait, flights delayed or cancelled. By the time you take off, you’re already in a crummy, anxious mood. So when something goes wrong, it’s magnified by the setup. What I find remarkable is when a business can overcome a negative and make a positive impression.

From CrankyFlier:

“I always hear the argument that successful airlines are those that underpromise and overdeliver. Take a look at Southwest Airlines. When you buy a ticket, you expect a seat and you expect to get to your destination, but that’s about it. When they sling a snack box at you and have flight attendants that actually smile, you’re thrilled at how the experience exceeded your expectations.”

-c7ae996e16645621ca5b6070b93fd44f->

In a recent post I wrote that I had decided to go “off the grid” for my vacation. Having just returned last night from my trip to Arizona (visiting Amber’s parents), I want to reflect for a bit. It’s been a resolution of mine to more clearly delineate between work and the rest of my life. The work-life balance is tough for me because I enjoy my work and find it easy to devote a bit too much of my life to it. When your office could be anywhere with an Internet connection, it’s sometimes hard to leave it behind.

This vacation let me do that. I made the conscious decision to leave work behind, not respond to clients’ emails unless it was an emergency, and focus on my vacation. I wanted to recharge mentally and physically.

Another resolution of mine is to be more active. While on vacation, I was able to go hiking, do some weightlifting, and spend a lot of time in the pool and hot tub. In the 60s and 70s of the Arizona winter, I found it easy to get out and get moving. I’m hoping to carry this momentum into 2007 and beyond. I was able to read again. I rarely read for pleasure anymore, since it’s so time-consuming and because I tend to become very immersed in reading. I read two novels (Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity and About a Boy), two work-related non-fiction pieces, and am finishing up a third novel. I tossed in the work stuff not for specific projects, but for my own development. One of my goals of any vacation is to come back renewed and eager to dive back into my work, and these books helped me do that. I’ll write more about them later. Upcoming posts:

• Delta and Donovan’s – Customer Experiences


• Projects are People


• Three Stages of Client Project Relationships


• How did I miss the Cluetrain?

-7a79c2217c9e4b5b9ee43f0956b55b17->

-1bee52f160ac2cb1693f9eb7a4586659->