Comments on: Welcome to The McDonaldification of Web Development http://blog.ericlamb.net/2009/11/welcome-to-the-mcdonaldification-of-web-development/ Thoughts on programming, people and life Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:01:37 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Eric Lamb http://blog.ericlamb.net/2009/11/welcome-to-the-mcdonaldification-of-web-development/comment-page-1/#comment-1323 Eric Lamb Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:33:56 +0000 http://blog.ericlamb.net/?p=2565#comment-1323 It's especially frustrating because your average person has no idea what's going on when dealing with a web developer. I imagine they liken the experience to buying a business card when they should thinking it's like dealing with a used car salesman. Rarely are the right questions asked by the client and, if morality isn't an issue, it would be easy to dazzle them with tech speak and low cost. Take a typical project for a blog: if the project fits a good route would be to use WordPress or a similar platform. IMHO a good, professional and competent, programmer will start with the most current build and write plugins and themes to achieve the functionality the client wants. They will NOT modify the core and WILL explain the importance of updates and system house keeping. They will quote a fair price and schedule and will stick to it. Instead what I tend to encounter is people who were just hosed by developers who used old, and insecure, software that's been heavily modified so updating is not an option. Across the board they were all quoted one price and one deadline and ended up waiting longer and paying more than I would have charged. Sadly, when they washed their hands of the situation they now look at us all as crooks. One thing I'm trying to do is educate all my clients on just what they're getting themselves into and what they can expect from me. While I lose more clients through sticker shock than anything else the ones I do keep appear to be more loyal and understanding of the process than those who don't. It’s especially frustrating because your average person has no idea what’s going on when dealing with a web developer. I imagine they liken the experience to buying a business card when they should thinking it’s like dealing with a used car salesman. Rarely are the right questions asked by the client and, if morality isn’t an issue, it would be easy to dazzle them with tech speak and low cost.

Take a typical project for a blog: if the project fits a good route would be to use WordPress or a similar platform. IMHO a good, professional and competent, programmer will start with the most current build and write plugins and themes to achieve the functionality the client wants. They will NOT modify the core and WILL explain the importance of updates and system house keeping. They will quote a fair price and schedule and will stick to it.

Instead what I tend to encounter is people who were just hosed by developers who used old, and insecure, software that’s been heavily modified so updating is not an option. Across the board they were all quoted one price and one deadline and ended up waiting longer and paying more than I would have charged. Sadly, when they washed their hands of the situation they now look at us all as crooks.

One thing I’m trying to do is educate all my clients on just what they’re getting themselves into and what they can expect from me. While I lose more clients through sticker shock than anything else the ones I do keep appear to be more loyal and understanding of the process than those who don’t.

]]> By: Gaby http://blog.ericlamb.net/2009/11/welcome-to-the-mcdonaldification-of-web-development/comment-page-1/#comment-1322 Gaby Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:31:50 +0000 http://blog.ericlamb.net/?p=2565#comment-1322 This is something I have noticed in the online art world too; people will offer crap but cheap service, pushing prices down and making it near impossible for hard working artists to get work if they're new to trying to get commissions. I always make sure to right a personal response, and when I did finally get a commission I was told it was what I had written that got the attention (same story with a job and my CV - I was told they'd pretty much made their mind up based on that). I don't understand how these people think they'll get serious work with really obvious cut-and-paste applications, let alone if it's clearly automated (I mean come on, a sensible programmer would at least add a delay based on how long it would take to write the cut-and-paste text, let alone all the wonderful things they could do by extracting data from the ad). It's a case of a few (hundred per post) people ruining it for the rest of us and it sucks there's nothing we can do about them :( This is something I have noticed in the online art world too; people will offer crap but cheap service, pushing prices down and making it near impossible for hard working artists to get work if they’re new to trying to get commissions. I always make sure to right a personal response, and when I did finally get a commission I was told it was what I had written that got the attention (same story with a job and my CV – I was told they’d pretty much made their mind up based on that).

I don’t understand how these people think they’ll get serious work with really obvious cut-and-paste applications, let alone if it’s clearly automated (I mean come on, a sensible programmer would at least add a delay based on how long it would take to write the cut-and-paste text, let alone all the wonderful things they could do by extracting data from the ad).

It’s a case of a few (hundred per post) people ruining it for the rest of us and it sucks there’s nothing we can do about them :(

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