ALTI ÜSTÜ TASARIM – Mehmet Doğan

Lemon Web Designer Guide

23 Ocak 2007

Sometimes companies that are in the market for a website design service surprise me. We pay more attention when we buy fruits! We look for firm, crisp, well-colored apples, we sniff honeydew melons for a good taste, we even perform a "crash test" for some fruits (well, at least some people do). However when it comes to web site design our motto becomes "cheaper is better". Well, what should we look for when we buy a website design service? Since we cannot smell the designer nor perform a "crash test" are there any signs that give away a Lemon Web Designer?

Here are 21 tips for you:

1. If the only book in his bookshelf is "HTML for dummies"
2. If he has predefined Website design price list,
3. If the only two deliverables he asks are company logo and main page links,
4. If he prefers to talk about technology instead of your company's mission and needs,
5. If he does not ask a single question about your customers/users,
6. If he frequently uses abbreviations when he talks,
• Let's use PHP and CSS for the main interface, we can implement a RSS enabled CMS with ROR infrastructure; we can also enable API by sharing your XML data. What do you think about that?
• THX, BYE!
7. If he talks more than you do,
8. If his logo or motto has the "CHEAP" word in it,
9. If it's his mom who answers your phone calls,
10. If he says: "We'll let you know when the design is over"
11. If his design methodology is: "We'll prepare 3 design alternatives and you will chose the one you like"
12. If he says: "I am an old fashioned designer. I use notepad and manually code the site and I am damn proud of it!"
13. If he got all his design software and tools from free CDs that PC Magazine gave away.
14. If his client portfolio consist of his brother-in-law's convenience store and his sister's MySpace page,
15. If he does not know any thing about "design",
16. If the only thing he knows is "design",
17. When it comes to Marketing the first thing in his mind is custom t-shirts he sold in college,
18. If he has "Flash-based Intro Pages" listed under his "Services" list.
19. If he has Bangalore, India on his speed-dial
20. If he is very proud of his "No right-click" script.
21. If he says "Let me check with my coder and find out if he can do that" when you ask about usability, accessibility and user experience.

RUN OFF as fast as you can!

Thank you for the translation, Neyran