Once Again, Established Businesses Get Angry At 'Free' Competition
from the welcome-to-the-world dept
It's no secret that established businesses or organizations get upset when they see any form of "free" competition -- even when it's utilizing a new or different business model or social model. We've seen it with taxi cabs and with online mapping services among other things. And, now it's apparently happening with a fun contest that the city of Portland decided to run. Josh alerts us to the fact that Portland decided to try to crowdsource the redesign of the city's website. This sounds like a good idea, but the city's professional designers apparently are freaking out. Of course, this ignores a few key points: first, the city still intends to hire a professional to implement the design, and most of these firms wouldn't have received the business anyway. Besides, what better way to get the actual implementation business than submitting a design idea themselves? The real problem is that these design pros think they have a monopoly on design. There's no doubt that, being professionals, they're likely going to be better at it, but that doesn't mean they get to stop others from jumping in and submitting design ideas. Rather than fighting against the tide, they ought to learn how to surf.
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Filed Under: crowdsourcing, portland, web design
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Most Graphic Designers do not know how to make a website - still
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Re: Most Graphic Designers do not know how to make a website - still
I remember the days in which we were told to KISS websites for those with 14.4/56k modem speeds.
Yet, today, it's acceptable to have a "Please wait. We didn't create this website properly, so now it has to load..." messages?
Not to me. That's poor design, regardless how well the page looks. "Professionals" have long forgotten the primary rule for building a website: CONTENT. COMES. FIRST.
Good job, Portland! I don't blame the city for doing this. Now, let's just hope they don't hire one of these "professionals" which turns it into a crap filled, eye candy website.
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both of you are wrong
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Re: both of you are wrong
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Most professional web designers suck
I have worked professionally for years as a System Eng, and for the most part the web sites on my servers suck, and they are all designed by people that make a living doing it. (IE professional). I know there are great web designers out there that are professionals, it just that most professionals are not great web designers.
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agree
That being said - I have personally found that it is not financially viable for all agencies have a web design team on staff and people like me get hired to build for them. And yes, there can be a drastic difference between the submitted design that may match a print campaign and what can actually be done. Many times, before I get the job, the client has already been promised the site will "look like this" based on a sketch from a print campaign with web as an unrepresented after-thought.
Everyone walks a fine line between giving the client what they want and what works in all browsers, loads fast, is easy to navigate, etc.
I have found very few non-professionals who have anything but a basic idea of browser compatibility, SEO, navigation, usability, etc. it really does take full-time attention to keep up. A professional(s) will have to be involved in the crowdsource redesign or the construction of the design. There are many factors to consider in a highly visible public site build. If not...let's start a count-down to the first lawsuit over accessibility.
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let's not forget
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There's a difference
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Re: There's a difference
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Only hacks won't support this
Since any website would be paid for with tax dollars I'm for (within reason) anything that helps save that kind of spending.
A private company who's earnings depend largely on a professional web prescence, should seriously considering hiring a professional.
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How are a few user-submitted designs the same as 'free work' from the public?
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Re: How are a few user-submitted designs the same as 'free work' from the public?
Look at this way, would you expect to go to a restaurant and try several dishes for free, only to pay for the one you liked best?
If you do, you're a moron.
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Re: Re: How are a few user-submitted designs the same as 'free work' from the public?
:p
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WTF
But I will grant you this: Currently, the majority of clients I am talking to want a $12,000.00 site but only have $1,200.00 to spend. Something has to give and usually design suffers - or - you get that simple navigation script instead of that full, intuitive, nav system you need - or - a 4 page package when you really need 12, etc..
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Great Idea= opening the design up to the public. New ideas and innovation may come as a result.
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Take this article we are all responding to with several grains of salt: Who are these firms and designers who are "freaking out"? I like Tech Dirt a lot but sometimes there are little snippets that are short on fact & high on insulting opinion intended to get folks all worked up!
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You People are Stupid
I'm all for competition -- "crowdsourcing" or other methods -- but you have to remember that you get what you pay for. Yes, there are "pros" that are anything but. However, it doesn't take much to weed them out. There are plenty of professional firms out there that can design AND code properly because A) They're well trained and highly experienced; and B) they have different teams to handle the design and coding portion of the project. (Design and coding tend to happen on opposite sides of the brain and rarely do the two mix well. It's emotion vs. logic, you see.)
I'm no fortune teller, but I can already tell you how this is going to end and it won't be pretty.
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Re: You People are Stupid
Maybe it's thinking like this that leads to so many bad designs.
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Re: Re: You People are Stupid
The worse sites I have ever seen are from programmers who write beautiful code and think that means they can also design or even place data or form fields in a logical or easy-for-the-user-to-follow manner - and - from the artist who who doesn't understand how to make a design that works on the web, or even if it can or should be done.
It is a misconception that you are either one or the other but examples of this are many.
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