PixelMEDIA Inc.

The goal of any good web firm should be to provide clients with the best possible online face to the world.  Notice, however, that I use the term “best possible”.  The reality is that we as developers, designers, information architects, content strategists, account managers and project managers, are often limited by the budget, particularly in this difficult economy.  While a $100,000 website redesign might be off the table during tough times, “small victories” in key places can happen as part of the regular support and maintenance of your website, and often have a big impact.

In the support & maintenance division, edits are often purely functional and extremely urgent.  One thing I try to do with my clients is suggest small improvements above and beyond the standard maintenance requests, and emphasize how easy it is to keep the request affordable.  Almost everyone wants to “do it right,” but clients often have a boss ready to veto 30 hours to redesign and rebuild the entire products section.  However, customers may not realize that significant improvements can be made despite limited time and budget:

• 1-2 hours for an information architect look at a problematic page that frequently elicit customer complaints
• ½ hour for a copywriter to punch up the language on a flat homepage promotion
• 2-3 hours for a designer to restyle a confusing chart so that users can get critical product information “at a glance”
• 3-4 hours for a developer to automate a task that normally takes the client 1-2 hours to accomplish using a content management system (CMS) several times weekly
• 15 minutes to create a Google Analytics account and add the code to a landing page to make sure a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign is effective

Affordable suggestions like these introduce clients to expertise that normally only get tapped during large-scale projects. They also remind them that we really do have their best interest in mind and that we are as frustrated by the “bubble gum and duct tape” add-ons to their website as they are. It’s important for everyone to remember that while a full-scale website redesign might not be possible during tough times, these “small victories” in key places (i.e., where customers often identify difficulty) can happen on a regular basis, and often have a big impact. The focus and frequency of these changes can draw attention to improvements that might have otherwise gotten lost during an overwhelming, large-scale redesign, and show users that your company strives to be responsive.  Innovation, intelligence, and creativity in small doses can still be enough to inspire customer involvement and loyalty.

Tags: Content strategy, Customer Service, Experience Design, Information Architecture, Project Management, search engine optimization, Usability, webdev, website, Website design