Web developers in short supply

Tue Jul 17

A recent article in Computing.co.uk highlighted the fact that web developers are in short supply. I’m sure this is true, with more and more companies waking up to the potential of the web. However there’s one bit I’m not sure I agree with, a quote from Atsco chief executive Ann Swain:

‘It was relatively easy to publish a decent web site back then, but now it’s difficult without expert programming skills.’

Really? I think it’s easier than ever to publish a decent website - as long as you’re not wanting all the latest bells and whistles. And even if you do want an AJAX-ified, People Powered, Social Media 2.0 web application there are easily utilised methods for putting the click-candy into a site.

Still, I’m glad that quality web developers are getting the attention they deserve. It’s a tough job, being a mix of many different disciplines none of which is easy to master. It’s good news for me, as the need for my services isn’t diminishing.

Improving customer relations

Fri Jul 13

Wow, it’s been over a week since I wrote here. Great was the rejoicing, but now I’m back. It’s been a busy week, not least because I’ve been without an internet connection since last Thursday thanks to those that shall forever be known as The Worst Internet Service Providers In The World.

The saga ongoeth, but when I’ve got a bit of time I’ll put down here the entire story so hopefully other unsuspecting punters won’t get caught out by these cowboys. In the meantime I’d like to draw your attention to this gem from Guy Kawasaki. My favourite bit is this:

Question: What’s the best way to improve customer relations?

Answer: This is almost too simple—actually take care of customers! I am sure we have all heard the recorded message, “you’re call is very important to us.” Well, if the call were important to the company who has recorded the message, maybe they would answer it in some reasonable time instead of either playing music or bombarding the caller with advertising messages. When you make a mistake, fix it and admit responsibility. Tell the truth. By the way, the airlines seem to be the worst at all of this, with a few exceptions.

Standard URLs: a MacroFormat?

Sat Jun 30

There’s a really interesting article at ReadWriteWeb proposing a standard URL format to enable simpler searches. It’s a good idea, but as they say it will take a huge effort to make this happen.

Would it make things easier for searchers? I’m not sure. After all, search engines have been designed to find information with little regard to the actual URL it appears at (but it can have an effect on how well that page is ranked).

It seems to me that power-users, those that understand what the URL is and how it denotes a hierarchy of information, may be the only ones to benefit from this - certainly in the short to medium term. That’s no reason to not do it, though, and I’ve tried to do something like this in recent projects I’ve worked on.

Will it happen? There’s no reason why not (I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’d have mod_rewrite’s babies if I could), but it will take a lot of work to educate people regarding the technologies and tools that can make this happen - and the reasons why it’s a good idea. In some ways it’s like the campaign for web standards: we have to be realistic and acknowledge that it’s still a minority movement despite there being clear reasons for using them.

So, for me, I’ll bear this in mind whenever I do a site (I love clean URLs anyway) but maybe we need Dan or Tantek to start MacroFormats.

Big business, big attitude

Fri Jun 15

I felt this dubious exchange (hat tip) was worth highlighting, not just because it’s a prime example of how NOT to interact with your customers, but because the rest of Andrews blog is so interesting. One for the feed reader, methinks.

And speaking of interacting with customers the wrong way, I’ve got a cautionary tale to tell you soon about a company I deal with. However I’ll wait for them to pay me the money they owe me (no, I’m not holding my breath) before I spill the beans. Trust me, this is a masterclass in bad P.R.

Eric Sink on Requirements

Wed Jun 6

I often read Eric Sink’s blog for down-to-earth discussion of technology. You won’t find many fuzzy marketing phrases there, let me tell you. One of his recent articles about requirements struck a chord with me because of the ridiculous escapade I’ve just started.

Planning is great, as long as the plans are going to be useful as the project progresses. Paperwork for paperwork’s sake is useless. Specifications should be detailed enough so everyone knows what’s expected, but not so detailed that everyone loses any creativity. And, of course, you should only require the things that really are required.

It’s a tough ethos to stick to, but one that every modern web entreprenuer needs to get sorted. I am, as you may have guessed, just beginning.