The Shrek Model of Website Design

Here is a web design theory : websites are like onions, you see, since websites have layers. And ogres are like onions, since ogres have layers. Websites are designed by web designers. Ergo - web designers are like ogres.

So, let's explore why web designers are like ogres.

Firstly, let's see why we say that websites are like onions, with layers, in the first place - since this is the whole raison d'etre of my argument.

~Websites have an outer layer~

This is the graphical look and feel

~The second layer of a website is the structure~

The structure could be determined through some method such as functional decomposition, where the web designer might start with the main function (home page) and break the site into manageable sub sections so that he ends up with a clear idea of the scope of the site as well as the internal structure. So here your web designer needs to have some knowledge of basic Software Engineering principles. But even more than that, once the main functions of the site have been designed, the functions need to be married to the graphical design in such a way that the system is usable. A knowledge of the principles of good web design and usability (ala Nielson - http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html), and a familiarity with the site http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/ to learn how to avoid making mistakes such as 'mystery meat navigation', is essential.

~The third layer of a website is the dynamic and interactive elements~

Frontpage and Photoshop, you can get only so far. Your web design man-eaters may find that it simply to go and kill a couple of nerdy programmers to steal respond, their manuals: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web pages, AJAX and PHP - Building Web Applications with. And he would know better that it is not Ruby on Rails is a jewel on a railroad track.

~Then we get to the content~

The site must have good quality content to fill. Sometimes you are lucky, your client give you a good content. At other times, you'd better start rewriting technology research and business waffle to speak and to ask your client, if he could gently five national interests. Thus, a good copy of the knowledge and command of English will not go wrong.

So, we have the layers that make a website. The core, though, is the marketing strategy.

~Marketing Strategy~

We all know that it is NOT just a case of 'build it and they will come'. The website needs to be marketed and it can only be marketed if the underlying SEO principles have been kept in mind right from the start - in other words, links are easily followed by humans as well as search engines, all pages have meaningful titles, keywords are gently worked into the content of the pages. Apart from that, someone needs to take the marketing budget allocated to the website (all websites have a marketing budget, right?) and use that marketing budget to get the best ROI for the site - decide on the best Internet Marketing strategies for building links and traffic and then go forth and execute (the strategy, that is).

Now, my question is: Is it fair to expect one person to have all these skills?

Years ago when I studied 'Computer Science' there was basically one job title to aspire for and that was 'Systems Analyst'. If you worked for a really big corporate they might have distinguished between System Analyst and Programmer. (And there was also a career called 'Punch Operator', which strangely enough, has disappeared since today we all are supposed to do our own punching...) And yes, I suppose the 'System Analyst' of that time was supposed to do everything - analyze, build, test, deliver and support the system.

But... tempers fuggit.... 'That was then, this is now.'

Today, there are myriad career paths available for the aspiring math's whiz-kid who sits down for an aptitude test. Anything from Business Analyst to Test Manager to Network Administrator to IT Technician....

And BTW, if you are a COBOL programmer, you are a COBOL programmer. You know COBOL; that is what you do. Nobody would expect you to sort out the DNS entries for the company intranet server.

But the same specialization doesn't seem to have filtered through to the web design arena. I saw a job description just today for a 'web developer' who is supposed to have the following skills: Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash, Swish, .net, C#, MSAccess, SQL design experience, ASP, VB, .net, HTML, DHTML, ASP, XML, CSS, Javascript and VBscript. And this poor sod is supposed to also maintain networks and troubleshoot Windows servers. And wait for it - this paragon of a web design ogre will be paid what practically constitutes a minimum wage in the IT world. And this is in the corporate world, where they should really know better and where they can actually afford to appoint specialists.

If you are a web design freelancer working for yourself is that you better be sure you are familiar in all the skills that the layers in the structure of a website ... or rather the beginning of the work to go on a plan to create strategic partnerships with other specialist professionals. In this way you can have some freedom in which specialized aspects of Web design that you enjoy most, and the ability to offer, others do the same.

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