Why Web Designs Go Wrong

If you’ve ever been that lucky person tasked with the design or redesign of your business website then you understand how easy it is for a web design to go wrong in a big way.

This is not only frustrating to you and your company but it’s a costly experience for the web designer as well. We’re going to cover the reasons that web design project go so wrong so fast.

Technology is impacting the estimate process Web design and development technology is constantly changing. Years of website design and development is not going to cover gaps in this ever changing landscape. Web Developers are learning and testing new technology ever single day.

Each new project can present a challenge for the design / development team based on the wants and needs of a client.

One factor that begins the downhill slide of your web design project is this ever changing technology. A request from you to the web design firm for features that have not yet been tackled by their team is, in most cases, simply glossed over in the initial quote.

As your web design project nears completion, you, as the client, are unaware that that final puzzle piece that’s bringing it all together has been put on the back burner or completely ignored during the development.

Now both sides are feeling a little ill, the client anticipated a launch date and may have other business or marketing projects and goals that hinge the new or redesigned website, so delayed in launching the site start to create a traffic jam for their business goals.

Having to stall or answer uncomfortable questions from others in the business that relied on the client to efficiently take care of this project starts to cause problems for the client. Being told it’s almost there day after day is no longer a viable answer to the calls and emails searching for status updates. The additional costs involved with the delay of the project, leaves a client questioning if they have been misled from the beginning about the overall cost and time involved to complete the project.

The developer is looking at the project from the aspect of time and man power put into the project and is watching their profit slip away with each additional hour devoted to your site.

In most cases the platform that was chosen for project would have been fine, until you factor in that one piece of technology or feature that just won’t work with the platform.

Let me briefly explain why a platform is so important.

When a client begins the exploration phase of a new project and starts to layout the concept and goals of their new website, the development team is deciding what foundation that particular site will be built on.

Some of the most popular platforms are; Drupal, Joomla and Word press.

These are great platforms for 80% of websites.

For the other 20% though, these platforms will not be valid options. Much like home construction, most basic homes can be built on foundations that are commonly found anywhere. It’s when that one or two features come into the picture that changes the whole dynamics of overall foundation of the home.

Back to the website – So here you sit, weeks or even months into the design project still no closer to launching, both client and developer have lost time and money on the site. The developer may recognize the mistake made in committing the time and cost projections to the client and in most cases would be happy to pull the project off the chosen platform and create the site with custom code.

The problems with starting from scratch are; how do you explain the truth to the client without losing all trust? Development is already so overdue that starting over after investing so many hours into a project is extremely costly and the developer is faced with the following issues. Scheduling for other work Each project has an effect on all projects.

A site design that has gone over the quoted time and budget will stall all projects that were in line behind that one.

This snowball becomes dark and muddy very quick.

Morale on both sides drops like stones from a plane Both sides of this equation; client and developer are losing morale. The developer has to do more work, explain to the client why the site is not yet completed and is frustrated by the pressure from all sides to get it done.

This makes for bad coding and benefits no one. Client Satisfaction drops There is no silver lining when a web design project goes over budget. Even if the developer takes the loss to try to appease the client, the bottom line is that the project and launch are still late and the client is still frustrated and unhappy.

Billing a client for the additional work and time is a pretty clear path to losing that client forever. No matter how you slice it. It’s not a pretty picture So how do you avoid this type of experience?

I could simply write “communication” but that’s not really good enough in this day and age. You can be very clear in your communication that you want a “Green Tree” on your home page, in your mind you see this;  But without a shared vision, built from taking the time to clearly state why you mean by “green tree”, you could wind up with this.

You see that you did indeed get what you asked for but you did not get what you wanted and disappointment ensues. We all know that time is money. Taking the time really define your vision will save you money in the long run as well as providing you with a truly fantastic website that everyone is proud to display.

Too often a web design project, quote request or development order is rushed from the first call. The client may be unclear about what is really needed or omits vital information about their new website design.

A quote and agreement is settled based on incomplete or inaccurate information from the beginning. There can be no great outcome when this is the case. In many cases the client is just not educated enough to know what questions to ask or how to define their web design goals and instead, rely on the expertise of the design firm. This can present additional problems.

The design firm may not have experience working with uneducated clients and make assumptions that the client knows what they want so little to no discovery time is allocated to the quote process.

On the other hand the choice to find the quickest, least expensive route to web development has paired a client with an inexperienced designer that neglects to define the needs of the client or even declines to bring up factors that the designer is aware of but, based on the low cost of the quote, can’t or won’t be willing to include. This, of course, always ends at the stop in the road.

A poorly designed website, a great loss of time and money and a client that owns a digital business card that does not improve their overall generation of customers and ultimately revenue.

At Complete Web Solutions we take the time to clearly understand our clients’ needs. Our team strives to educate our clients regarding the feature the request verses the true goals they have for their business.

Our clients appreciate the involvement our team takes in defining and creating the end results that really make a difference in their online presence. We encourage you to pick up the phone and call 719 302 5029. Let our team help you define your true goals and get a website that customers will enjoy and search engines will recommend.

Complete Web Solutions is a web design company located in Colorado. Our business is helping your business with a website that is equipped and developed with the right tools to compete in today’s online space.

Did your customers find your business today or your competitors?

Call now 719 302 5029