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A Little Story

I was having lunch the other day with a principal at an interactive agency here in Columbus (Shift Global) and the waitress overheard part of our conversation (just some shop talk). I had been avoiding eye contact with her and my order was quick [more on this later]. As she set the check down she asked if we ‘did websites’, to which Bill answered yes, we both did.

She proceeded to tell us that she needed someone to ‘do her website’. She had engaged a firm months ago to get a site/app built, but they went out of business while under contract. They refunded her money in full and she was now looking for someone to dev it for her so she could ‘start making money’.

She was really frustrated because the original firm had quoted and accepted a contract for $5,000 and she was now getting quotes for 3x, 10x, 15x this amount [will connect to this later too]. She knew that “these prices were ridiculous and that it could be done for the original quote” (perhaps there was a reason the original firm went out of business?) She asked if we had cards. I sheepishly said I didn’t have any on me.

Why had I avoided eye contact? Why didn’t I hand over a card? Well, dynamIt has a policy to give at least a half hour of time to nearly anyone who gets in contact with us. We may know, immediately, that they don’t have the budget or the expertise to make an idea work (or we may know that the idea has either a) been done before or b) is just a bad idea), but it’s our practice to hear them out, at least for a while.

The funny thing is – this waitress had been at our office 2 weeks before, had detailed the idea and situation to me. She didn’t have a revenue model (I asked how she was going to make money and she gave me one of those “oooohhh yaaaa…revenue” looks) but did want some rather complex inter-user interaction. I’d given her a ballpark which I knew she probably couldn’t and wouldn’t go with. She had responded to the ballpark in an annoyed way, and we left it at that. Thus, my lack of excitement to see her again.

My point – GOOD.WEB.COSTS.MONEY.

This doesn’t just happen with individuals who have ideas that “rival Facebook and Google”. This happens with clients big and small, startup and established. In general, we find there are few cases in which people have a concept for what good web costs.

Because people have a Hotmail (gag) account, have searched Google before and may be able to purchase something off of eBay, they assume they know what goes on in web development and how much it should cost. I’m not saying that everyone needs to have intimate knowledge of the industry (my colleagues and I would certainly be out of work), but, people, PLEASE!

Good web is strategic. Good web is architected, is planned, is built, tested and strengthened. And, one thing that good web most definitely is, it’s NEVER DONE. You get what you pay for. There aren’t many industries where this is more true than web. A holistic and anthropological solution requires dynamic minds, critical thinking, problem solving and execution. People should and do pay for this. 

Oh, and another thing – we’re not going to take shortcuts, hack things together and simply react to a problem. Not only our reputation, but good, sustainable and extensible web (the industry/platform) is dependent upon well-built applications and solutions. So, as I say, we aren’t going to simply react to a problem with budget and timeline in mind and risk compromising the product. Rather, we’re going to respond to a problem with a solution. Response and solutions cost money.

that is all.

one.

nick

There are many choices in the out-of-the-box e-commerce market, most of which come with a wide array of features. But, do you really need all of these features? About a month ago we finished configuring an installation of X-Cart for a client. X-Cart has it all, a complex tree structure of categories, feature comparison, a complex tax system, various shipping and payment method options, featured products, related products, upselling products, and so on. It is a complex system that will run just about any store, well maybe not every store, but you get the idea. Whatever the problem, X-Cart has a solution, right?

There is no denying that X-Cart is a robust piece of software. Whatever feature you are looking for in an e-commerce solution, there is a good chance that X-Cart has it, but if you ask me, X-Cart is NOT good web. Good web is simple web. Simple implies streamlined and running smoothly for the end-user. Simple means user-friendly and intuitive. It may be feature-rich, but user-friendly and swift on its feet it is not.

At dynamIt we always preach approachable, efficient, intelligent web. These concepts fall by the wayside as they try to cram in every feature possible thus making the features you want harder to find. The system becomes bloated and runs slow on the server, thus crippling usability.

So, keep it simple, and unless there is a piece out there that really fits your project, consider going the custom route.