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INTRODUCTION
A man's error are his portals of discovery.
What does the above quotation convey? To have a portal, you have to commit mistakes. Isn’t that funny? No not at all. It may be a motivating sentence, but in business it can turn out to be doomsday for small start-ups with little investments.
We have already talked about usability and UI design issues in our previous blog: Usability and UI Design go Hand-in-Hand. This article has been done especially for small start-ups who want to make it in their respective fields and are planning to launch their website or looking for a facelift or adding new functionalities to there existing site or aren’t sure about their design requirements. The blog will offer you an in-depth analysis of how to find the best possible web solution for your idea/company/organization.
Poor web design is one of the leading causes of small business failure. There are literally thousands of businesses struggling to make a living online. Most, make very little or no money and end up closing their site in defeat. The reasons can be attributed to- poor UI design, page load time exceeds the patience of users, the site is not navigable or user friendly, absence of content management system, site not being updated on a regular basis, etc. Now the above shortcomings can be attributed to the design company as well as the owner of the site. The company might not have a clear vision about what they want, who they want to target, where are the audiences located, what are the latest web tools that are being used and so an so forth. On the part of Design Company, the error is graver- the company might not have the previous experience of the project, may have differences with the client on certain aspects of the design but fails to convince, has not worked in diverse business domains, the company professionals are more or less from the same field, etc.
I don’t want to write a book called 101 Errors in UI designs. Instead I would like to follow a more insightful approach to help you visualize your site and find the answers to all your queries/doubts/apprehensions.
CHOOSING A WEB DESIGN COMPANY
 With a multitude of web designers and developers out there, from freelancers, to agencies, to online templates, how do you know what is the right fit for your company, and more importantly, for your goals and objectives?
Choosing a web design company is not that a serious job. But choosing a good web design company is a real serious challenge. People say that Internet has made business processes simple and global, but how about the complexities that Internet offers which are unique. Just Search for the term “Good Web Design Firm” (all the terms should be in inverted quotes together) on Google, and it comes up with 6,120 results. For normal human being it’s impossible to search through every result.
We will go through the entire process of selecting a Web Design and Development company in a structured way.
 STEP 1- PLANNING
Most Web designers will need to know the following:
- The role of your new Web site.
- The intended market or audience of your Web site.
- Your budget.
Take time to consider what you expect from your Web site and the type of information you want to communicate to your potential clients before you approach your designer. This will save you and the designer a considerable amount of time and effort.
 STEP 2- SEARCHING AND CREATING THE PRIMARY LIST
Referral: Ask business acquaintances, friends, and family which Web design firm designed the Web site for their respective organizations, or if they can otherwise recommend a Web design firm.
Be inquisitive. Find out what the individuals responsible liked or disliked about working with the various Web design firms. Some firms are better suited for taking a project from start to finish. Other Web design firms are more inclined to work from an existing concept.
Web sites: Determine the Web design firm that is responsible for the Web sites of organizations that you admire. These organizations may be your competitors, or in related or unrelated industries.
Others: Sometimes the Web design firm is included in the site credits, or is listed elsewhere on the Web site. If you cannot find the credits on the site itself, feel free to contact the organization and ask which Web design firm is responsible for the Web site. This can also be a good source for references for that Web design firm.
 STEP 3- EVALUATING AND SHORTLISTING |