Tag Archives: business

Aug 27 2011

Choices

Last year, I made a blog posting over making choice http://jennifiergoodwin.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/making-choices/ from a web designer or developer point of view. The opportunity has arisen again, and this time around I wanted to do a posting that went into a little further detail about what choices the designer or developer would have to think about and offer to their client, as well as what choices the client would be facing when deciding to build a website.

There are a multitude of choices for web design and developing nowadays. Making a decision on those choices can be proven to be difficult. Careful steps must be taken in deciding what is best for the client and their website. A developer or designer must take time to explain to a client each choice that is being offered to him and why in particular the client should decide to choose one over another.

So what are some of the choices we are faced with as client and a web developer/designer?

In the first steps of website development, the developer/designer will need the client to provide information on what he/she is looking for in his site. For example:

  • Do you want a large or small website?
  • Do you want to sell a product or offer a service?
  • Do you need to update this site on your own or how will you be updating it in the future?
  • Do you have a logo or want a logo made?
  • Would you like to use images?
  • Do you have images of your own or would you like the designer to design for you?
  • Do you want a mobile version and social networking?
  • What is the functionality of the site?
  • What is your budget for the site and is it flexible or not?
  • What is the main objectivity/purpose of the site?
  • What is your target audience?

This is only a small list of choices to think about, and that’s only the beginning.

As a developer/designer, we already know that a website should reach a vast amount of people. To do that, one of the basic minimums is to develop a site that is compatible in all browsers as much as possible. Basic browsers that everyone knows of are Internet Explore (Microsoft), Firefox (Mozilla) and Safari (Apple). There are also Google Chrome, Opera, SeaMonkey, Flock, Prism (Mozilla), Deepnet Explorer, Avant, Maxthon, mobile browsers and more! Did you know as a developer we still have to think about making your site compatible to fit mobile devices? Yes, your site still needs to be accessible to everyone!

Another list of choices to be looked at is the appearance.

  • What kind of layout do you prefer? 3 column, 2 column, vertical, horizontal?
  • What colors did you have in mind?
  • Do you have particular images or graphics you want to use?
  • Will there be ads?
  • Do you want to use a logo?
  • What size of font or font style were you wanting?

Content is usually where some of the choices can really get complex.

  • What social media, such as Twitter or Facebook would you like to have?
  • What is most to least of importance that needs to be in your site?
  • Do you want a newsletter or email sign-up?
  • Where do you expect for the logo to be?
  • How will you handle payments?
  • How many products or services do you plan to offer?

After some important choices are made by you, a developer will then decide what will best suit your needs for the website. The developer has a variety of choices between programs, languages, and techniques they could use to make your site more interactive such as:

As you see, both the client and the developer/designer have many choices to review and decisions to make. These choices listed are only the beginning stages of building a website. There are so many more before completion and delivery of a fully functional site.
In website development, as a client, developer, or designer we have many things to choose from. Having choices in the web industry allows for creativity and flexibility.
Without choices, websites would not only be boring but repetitive.

Apr 23 2011

Excellence

Strive for excellence, not perfection. ~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Excellence is often a perception of self improvement and delivering beyond expectations, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. It is usually a talent or a quality that is unusually good and so surpasses standards.
Excellence allows you to continually learn and improve, while perfection can be stagnant.

So, what are the ingredients for excellence?

Excellence is all about choices. We all have the ability to strive to be great, successful, the best or just mediocre. It’s whether or not you choose to motivate yourself in achieving that goal.
In order to be, retain and have excellence you must have the motivation to invest yourself. Envision and believe you are excellent. Then plan and have a strategy in allowing yourself to strive at your best to obtain it. Value the fact there is always room for improvements.

You also need the perseverance to achieve anything in spite of difficulties and discouragement. Aspire to be passionately successful in all that you do.
You have to be 100% fully committed, dedicated and focused. Sure, there will be times you won’t feel 100% or discouraged, it is a natural human emotion. But, it is the unwillingness to settle for the minimum or second best, that drive, ambition, and strength that will make you rise above the rest.

A little diversity in your excellence helps make you stand out among the rest. Without some difference how else would you be able to excel, let alone have something to compare or compete with?
You also need to be flexible. This allows you to easily change gears in any environment, big or small, hard or easy.
Keep a positive attitude, have some humor but also some humility and respect. When you deal with customer service in a business, you must be mindful of your communication, your actions and attitude. A little bit of anger management can go a long way.

Have compassion and the patience to see other’s perspectives without the distortion from your own opinion. What this will entail is being open minded, as well as humble. It can bring a profound sense of appreciation and respect for you, allowing the opportunity of self development while learning from others.

Excellence does require for accountability, honesty and integrity, while mixing in trustworthiness. It’s not just about being honest and true to yourself, but also to your clients as well as your employer! It is being reliable, accountable in good times and bad, and following a set of workplace ethics. Your employer relies on you to be a worthy employee while demonstrating professionalism, especially in a teamwork related environment.

Finally, reflect on your past and learn from it. Do not be afraid to fail in order to succeed. Having excellence can develop successful learners, effective contributors, and confident responsible citizens.