The Web Development Process

Graphic Designer - Web Designer - Copyrighter - SEO

[geoapa]

I've been creating web sites for small customers for a couple of years now on my own.
I came to the relization that I'm not the best graphic designer when creating the layout for a web site. I have tried templates before, but there really aren't any good ones out there that suite my needs.

I was wondering if you guys work in teams? Basically I am a one man shop, but for a couple of bigger projects I have lined up I am playing around with the idea of outsourcing a graphic designer and a copyrighter. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[karmov]

I work for an organization and I'm flying solo as the webmaster. It's ok for most things, but as you mention, when you need to develop something from scratch, your weaknesses start to show. I think if you can find people with complementing skills that you can work with, go for it.

[john_k]

...a couple of bigger projects I have lined up I am playing around with the idea of outsourcing a graphic designer and a copyrighter.

That is definitely the way to go. For smaller projects, it may not make sense, because you can deliver the finished product in a reasonable amount of time.

For larger projects, you either need to bring in help, or push back the delivery. By focusing on what you do well and hiring help to work on what they do well, you will deliver a better website and still get it done in a reasonable amount of time.

If you have never worked as part of a development team, then you should do some homework on project life-cycles, documentation, project management, communication, etc.

[geoapa]

Thanks for your feedback. I thought I was the only one juggling all these different tasks and going insane.

If you have never worked as part of a development team, then you should do some homework on project life-cycles, documentation, project management, communication, etc.

hmm.. are there specific programs that can assist me with these things? MS Project maybe?

[john_k]

Yes, MS Project (or other PM software) is useful even when you're the only one on the project. It helps to identify dependencies and point out your critical path.

It will really depend upon the number of helpers you have as well as your working relationship with them.

The more tightly coupled your daily activity is with their effort, the more useful it will be for you to all have a copy of the project plan.

The project life-cycle becomes more important as the projects get bigger. There are simply more things that can go wrong or fall through the cracks. And different contributors have different ideas of what is acceptable. Putting definition to the stages of your project will help you to determine how formal (or informal) you will need to be at each step.

[ergophobe]

CVS, Subversion version control, or some other concurrent versioning system will help so much. Several are available for free.