Web Design Rookie's bitter lesson

2007, the economic situation is very good. Every day someone sent two or three websites to develop the request, I am too busy, almost can't keep up with the progress of the customer requirements.

I felt the need to enlarge the size of the studio, so I called my brother and a friend and asked them to join me in the small business.

None of them have any experience in web development, but I think they can do it with a quick training.

Next, I met with client Bob.

Bob is a great guy, and he has a great project on his hands. He is designing his own website and needs a developer to help him write the code for the site on WordPress.

I wrote a summary that divided the project into three phases (design, programming, and Integration to WordPress) and estimated time for each phase. After we agreed on the price, I arranged my work and started to develop the project.

Next, I started making mistakes, the ones that were so painful. Here are three of the most important errors:

1. Handing over the job to someone else-I gave my brother the project and he was a new beginner (he's a great designer now). I was busy communicating with clients and doing other projects, so every time I forwarded Bob's emails directly to my brother, sometimes I just commented on a few words. I think when there is a problem, I can help, he will do the project while learning, is not it?

2. Ignoring the danger signal-after we agreed on the price of the item, Bob sent another email. He wrote his thoughts on the draft design and gave a list of 14 additional items that he wanted to include on the site. What I should do is to stop the work at the first time and think carefully about what should be added and what should not be added. However, I was so "busy" that I directly ignored the email and forwarded it directly to my brother. Back, I got retribution (then read the article).

3. When it's time to stop I choose to go on-suddenly, my brother needs to leave. He needs to work for another company for one months. I immediately found another young man to help, and the man was inexperienced. I wrote to Bob that either he could have a full refund or I would need to take some time to train my novice to continue the project. Bob said he could wait. I should have stopped and returned Bob's money to him to do anything to save the project. Instead, I chose to go on. Critical error.

Next, the young man had to leave. I paid his wages and then he did his work. I think I can get this project done quickly and minimize the damage. Unfortunately, my pain in this project has just begun. I spent another three months and an extra more than 60 hours on top of it, and I spent several months finishing my work after the site was finished.

But I've learned a lot. Whether you're a novice or a veteran of web design, I want you to remember 6 painful lessons I've learned and not to make these mistakes myself:

1. Don't take the business so fast.

The business grew fast and I felt that success had been around me. I am full of passion, want to hurry to start project.

I overlooked the danger signal and I just wanted to do everything I could to please the client and get the money done.

Now in retrospect, I should ask him for a small fee, just to evaluate the project and build a clear project plan.

If I start asking customers questions so that they can reach the core of the project, he will come up with the 14 project requirements earlier and I will be able to include them in the plan at the very beginning.

Spend more time on project details. If you feel that the project is going too fast, it may be because of the pace.

2. Slowing the pace of expansion

Judging from my workload, I obviously need more help.

The problem is that I spend a lot of time training them, longer than I have to work (and I have to pay them). And now think about it, at that time I'm not ready to scale up.

When I don't have the right person, I should say "no" to the project. What I should do is to go back and carefully build my own work flow and improve my working ability.

If your service market is in high demand, raise the price and start saying no.

You need to train your employees in a comprehensive manner, while not letting existing customers ' business be affected by you.

3. Clear planning

My plan for this project is just a list of estimated times that I think each phase needs.

Each stage of the customer can have his own understanding, and there is assurance that a stage only the customer "satisfied" after the completion.

My heart is good (I hope to be able to exceed customer expectations), but it actually took me a few months to do extra work, which is more than I expected. This is enough to show that I don't have a clear plan.

When you talk to a potential customer about a project, be diligent, sift through each part of the project carefully, and write down exactly what you want to do.

If you are not sure about the details of the project at the beginning of the project, you are not moving too fast or you are ready to enter an unknown journey. If it is the latter, you have to think carefully about how to price the project.

4. Don't stretch yourself too hard.

Although there are a lot of new projects waiting for me, I'm still just a rookie.

More than half the work in Bob's project is beyond my reach.

I'm an optimist and I think I can learn things quickly.

I have not (and cannot) anticipate that these problems have cost me so much effort. The good news is that I can choose to use WordPress as a platform.

I can find most of the plug-ins in WordPress to achieve the functionality he wants.

The bad news is that I didn't start warming up until after the project started, which made me nervous and stretched myself too hard.

It's a good thing you want to do something that's beyond your ability; You can earn less from a project, at least you get experience.

But don't overdo it.

You need to carefully assess your current level of experience in conjunction with your project plan, and note where you may need additional work. Be willing to say "no" or "later" on a problem that may be too much energy.

5. Don't try to avoid conflict

My personality is this, born, willing to avoid conflict.

Unfortunately, conflicts are inevitable in business.

To avoid conflict, I said "yes" to Bob's extra requirements, and I should have said no.

As the project went on, my heart began to tangle, beyond what I could afford.

The problem is, I didn't let Bob know! Set a range for yourself it seems to me that the seeds of conflict are buried, so I want to avoid conflict.

If you are fighting a conflict, challenge your thoughts and embrace them from within. It may make you feel painful, but conflict is a door to growth and maturity. Read some books on conflict management, like this Dr. Henry Cloud wrote the boundaries.

6. Keep going

There are times when I really want to give up.

I'm exhausted.

When I focused on the project, my other business was affected a little. However, I have signed an agreement with the client. No matter how painful the lessons I've learned, I know that as a man needs to be on his own, no matter how much.

I did it.

This project has dragged on for a long time and is much larger than our initial plan.

But I finished the work and Bob was satisfied.

I will never forget the lessons I learned from this project.

If you've made a promise and you want to give in, I suggest you don't. By accomplishing these difficult projects you can teach you to make better promises and to think twice before you start the next project.

Finally, I am grateful for this experience. I prefer learning from success to failure. However, if I am faced with failure, it is not a loss if I learn the lesson and go ahead.

Translator: Yingyingz

English Original: 6 painful lessons I learned as a rookie web designer