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Arturo Goicochea
8,077 PointsSquarespace, Weebly, Virb...when does coding a website make more sense?
These are great services, offering very competitive (hosting included) prices. There is obvious stuff outside of that scope (like building a "social network", taylor made stores, etc). But what if your client is a coffee shop? A small boutique clothe shop? You could choose a template from one of the aforementioned services and customize it to something that more than fits the bill.
A good reason is to build (even simple pages) by "hand" to learn. Though thats not so great for the customer.
How can we not offer them these options without being dishonest with them?
I guess we could work a very custom made web page, but I dont know...
Would love your thoughts on this!
1 Answer
Kevin Hamil
8,203 Points"Web development" solutions are constantly evolving, becoming more and more user friendly every day. Really, it all comes down to what your client wants in the end and how their audience should/will experience it. It's important to understand where the project is going so you don't back yourself into a corner with no way out. If the goals of the website fit within the constraints of a third party solution then sure... especially if it's something you're not contracted to manage over time. Third party services are great for passing off to the client and allowing them to maintain changes and content updates.
But lets say the coffee shop decided they wanted to start taking togo orders online. You might be able to use a system that has ecommerce built in, but the result would probably be a mediocre experience at best. You would want a custom solution for a tailored user experience.
A practical approach to understanding (the majority of) what will best suit your client's needs is to understand user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). There are lots of great books that talk about UX, and if you grasp that then you'll always be able to see things from the end user's perspective and know what is going to serve them best.
I hope that helps.
Arturo Goicochea
8,077 PointsArturo Goicochea
8,077 PointsThats very interesting! There loads out there, but what would you recommend?
I remember reading Product Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Web Products by Randy Hunt was good.