A Word on Design Value
The other day we got a telephone call from a guy that wanted to “exponentially increase” his Internet performance. He had an existing, custom built CMS and he wanted a complete re-design and re-build. We met with him, and he explained that he would like us to “design everything, ready to program”. He would then send our “detailed plans” to India and let a cheap team program the whole site.
His budget? $1000
Our first suggestion to go with our off the rack solution for small companies didn’t really satisfy him. The naivety of this particular guy — all in all a very nice and polite person by the way — was refreshing, but at the same time it border-lined on insolence: He figured that he could hire an information architect for a thousand bucks to fully sketch out a CMS and eCommerce solution, and then hire a programming team in India to produce it for another $3,000. He figured that all he needed to do is invest $4,000, crack the whip and then see the money roll in.
Wake up, Buddy
Luckily, we don’t need any additional projects right now, and I believe we gave him a nice and polite answer. Here is what we said:
- First of all: If it were that easy to make money on the web, everyone would do it. There is no such thing as a quick buck made out of a small buck. There is only a small buck being lost really quickly.
- For $1,000 you get about 10 hours of work from a professional in our field — that is, if you’re lucky. If you find one that can map out a full eCommerce solution in 10 hours, including wireframes and skinning, who will also agree to all the meetings, communication and administration, then you have found yourself a solid conman or a desperate junkie that will promise you anything for his next heroine shot.
- No disrespect to our fellow programmers, but, guys, all those programming farms in third world countries are one reason why the real value in software development nowadays is in information design.
- There is no “exponential growth”, unless you’re offering free sex.
- If you want something cheap and fast, chances are it wont do what you want.
- Whatever you get for $4000, it’s not going to make you rich.
He’s not alone
This really isn’t about poking fun at an individual - the point we’d like to make is that this kind of proposal is all too common in our field, and that we realize that people willing to pay for good design, or at least, those who recognize the value of it, are few and far between.
What do you think differentiates an iPod from an $8.50 DN-2000, a BMW from a Trabant, a Swan Chair from a Lund Bjov Sofa? The production quality? What is the blue print of production? — Right: Good products are well designed products. And good design costs good money. Online and offline.
This is a good post which highlights a trend we are seeing more and more in pretty much all our technical work, not just design.
The problem is sometimes the services we provide are seen as commodities, with the purchaser not giving thought to individual experience, skills and the willingness to become involved with a project for the long haul.
How many times have people had ‘the sons friend who has got this dreamweaver thing can do it for me, you’re too expensive’?
We see the exact same thing in our field… music. Nice people, well-meaning semi-professionals inquiring about our rates, regularly ask why it costs so much to get music for their website or commercial or corporate video when they can download music for free.
Or, god forbid, “Hey, my friend’s son has Garageband and some Apple Loops, can’t we have him write something for us??”
Arghhhh.
Fast, cheap, or good. Pick two. Can’t have all three.
at least he didn’t asked you to it for free (”it would be good for your portfolio”)
Always charge an amount sufficient to keep oneself interested.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, for kicks:
On the difference between a BMW and Trabant - well, the Trabant gets onto U2’s Achtung Baby album cover and around the world on U2′ ZooTV Tour and BMW does not.
(But then why are we talking BMW anyway? Surely we should be comparing Aston Martin to BMW?)
one way i sometime illustrate to a potential client is for him or her to imagine the site as a physical shop or office. And similarily to a real physical space, without adequate investment, the site is most likely going to perform the same as that dinghy retail shop in the obscure corner of some remote mall.
of coz, i success in convincing them as much as i don’t succeed. which is a pretty good representation of the business environment as you still can find those dank and unappealing retail stores appearing in your neighbourhood mall
This is the base problem with everything. No one wants to pay the full worth of anything anymore. There is no recognition of the skill needed to do these things because they are so amorphous to so many - and the Indian offshoring has done more to ingrain this mentality than any other issue in the technical fields.
When I talk to artists, writers, musicians, etc., they all have the same issue. People are cheap.
Pax,
MLO
I feel your pain. Although I absolutely love doing design, this was the reason I finally got out of the production business and joined a bigger e-commerce company, where I’m now in the position to hire Web design companies and pay them properly.
Having said that, it is even harder to find Web designers who are worth their money. So as a client now I finally understand why most of the clients are so cheap.
As you stated above clients who know the value of design are few and far between, but the same can be said about production companies and designers. Most of them are just not worth their money. It’s a mutual lament.
I am French in Shanghai, China and I am living almost the same situation when I met some guy who wants something extraordinary. They say to me that they have receive an offer from a Chinese company for about RMB 5000 (about US 600) and they don’t understand why I ask about four times this price…
Good point Kilian,
The core problem in our business is that most good creative work comes from people that don’t fit into standard corporate culture. It is in the nature of the creative mind to be daring and swim against the stream. This is especially relevant here in Japan. It is mostly freelancers or small companies that do the good work for bigger companies. I know a couple of designers that have to passwordprotect their portfolio as it would cloud the credibility of big agencies if people knew who really did that logo, that website, that campaign.
Big agencies have the contacts and the power. They hire freelancers, give them a couple of coins, and sell the work for horrrrendous money. Now within the new media consulting business, that vampirism has reached a new dimension.
It is pretty obvious if someone uses your creative work without paying you, but it is very very difficult to find out if someone used your know-how and sold it to a client.
I have had a couple of situations, where big companies asked me millions of technical, conceptual, strategic questions with the prospect of a big 100% sure job, and then somehow the job never happened - never happened for me, but - as I then heard through the grapewine - happened for them.
Now small companies often don’t deliver good work, as they cannot afford to hire good designers or use good freelancers (the best designer at a small design company is often the owner), and/or they don’t have the jobs, the name or the power to trick good people into working for low wages or even for free.
Design is not a good business, talent only won’t get you very far, unless you’re talented and famous you just have to do it for the fun of it - and deal with the vampires and tirekickers as good as you can.
Similar to placing the right value on design, I think the same should also be said for development/programming. Yes, it is kind of possible to get the job done by using cheap labor in India and China, but tell me which really successful sites have done this? All the big ones are using smart coders who tend not to come from these areas (just look at all the big sites on the web). To really make something that is successful and does well in the long run, it is more about who you hire and more emphasis should be placed on the person (and their way of thinking) rather than their skills. Anyone can learn to “design” and anyone can learn to “program”, but it is the personal approach, and the personal way that one goes about tackling a project that really separates the true stars in the industry from those that just work in it.
That was frakking hilarious. I’ve written a response or two along similar lines when I used to freelance, but you know - even in big corporate environments you still find a few clients with attitudes like that. The mind boggles.
Often folks look at design as one piece without understanding how it may relate to a larger strategy OR perhaps its the difference betweeen small and big thinkers.
Had a gig just like this. Client wanted me to help ‘flush out their concepts’ into a better UI based off of their PPT slides and then they would send it all to India.
After about 2 rounds of me asking them ‘what, exactly, did you intend this widget to do’ only to hear ‘we don’t know yet, don’t worry about it’ I realized that they didn’t want me to design anything, but rather just slice up their PPT presentation into HTML and ship if off.
One of the few times I politely stated “I don’t think this is working out and I don’t think I’m the best fit for your needs”
Hey Darrel,
I have a new one. Some dude calls me. He likes “iA design and concepts and stuff”, and he “absolutely” wants to work with us. BUT! Actually, he is kind of a designer himself (owner of a mid sized boring enterprise office), and he has pretty good ideas with “links and flash and movies and 2.0″, so, “to be honest”, he’d “rather work together on the designs from the start”… Which, of course would be a “smart way to keep cost reasonable”. Yeah, sure. Hasta la vista.
I think part of the reason people expect to pay so little for Web and IA related services, is they assume web professionals are nothing more than a human extension of a computer program. They don’t realize they’re also paying for a lot of critical thought and analysis, which is a shame because obviously that’s the real value.
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