My experience as a freelance web designer has been that a person or company will come to me and say they need a website. The conversion between myself and the client begins to open doors and paint blue prints of solutions. I do enjoy this scenario because it allows me to work directly with the person on a one to one basis. This gives me better insight to what problems need to be solved and what is the best way to solve them.
However, When can one determine that a website is officially done? We say here is the solution, package it up and send it out. Do we simply make a website for a client and then let it sit? Many people outside the web world like to think of their website as a business card that can be referred to when necessary. They believe that since the website simply exists it will benefit them on the world wide web. The truth is that the web is a evolving entity and growing much faster than humans evolved. Everyday it changes and new things emerge. This means that new websites have to be able to adapt to the web day to day. They need to grow and become more comprehensive in what content or service they are delivering. This I believe also speaks to the personality traits to the web professional.
It has come to my direct attention that being a web designer can take on several skill sets. By this I mean, being one man or part of a small operation. Take for example the highly successful web business Threadless. Founded by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart, these guys must has had a real understanding of the power of Graphic Design, User Science, Business management, Marketing, Information Technology, the list goes on and on. They were able to find a middle ground that is young and hip and user centric. Their site is a living breathing animal that listens to the environment and responds accordingly. Of course, I am sure down the road they found several other people that were able to do what they started DIY better. No one can do it all alone. Collaboration is necessary in evolving a web site. But they took the basic idea of selling t-shirts and made it lucrative on the web. Obviously this success did not happen over night, nor did they become professional web business owners by simply throwing a web site up.
When a website is launched it is the beginning of it’s life. At this very time the evolution process begins to take place. Strategists look a various levels of the website and business needs. They set goals and study the market. An internet professional may begin to analyze the site and study how people are using it at a molecular level. Interaction Designer may look to find new ways that the business that better involve the web user through new experiences. A Graphic Designer might begin to look for solutions that will accommodate aesthetically pleasing results as well as meet the needs of Marketers, Branding, the audience, ect… Developers try to find solutions to build an unbreakable web site that can continue to expand over time using latest technology and so forth.
The modern day freelance web professional should be able to wear several “thinking hats” ( Check out Six Thinking Hats). They need to accommodate several roles and raise a web site right which makes being a single parent hard. This responsibility can not be taken lightly, it means learning to switch focus from Designer to Developer, learn new skills, keeping up with best practices, studying the market, and overall learning to know what is best for the website and the client.
As the web and communication technology continues to evolve so must the web professional. The real question is how does the web professional keep up?
The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms- Lao Tzu
