Do you measure your website by the yard?
A funny thing occurred to me as I was busy push-mowing my lawn over the weekend. I put in so much time and effort to make the front of the house look great because it’s what people can see. I might pull weeds by hand one day or maybe run the sprinkler or even pay to have it aerated. I want to be happy with my lawn…sure. Who doesn’t? But, I also want people to drive by my house and think to themselves, “there’s a nice looking place”.
The interesting thing about all of this is my approach to the back yard – just get it mowed. I spend less time on the back yard and I rarely look forward to working back there. It’s just “part of the job”. So, I pick up the pace a bit and the back yard definitely gets mowed, but it’s no manicure like the front yard gets.
I know this may sound like a silly example, but it relates to many web projects I see. There is simply SO much going on with a website, but ultimately the stakeholders are most concerned with what people see when they drive by your site. Or, maybe it’s your developers who are quick to make light of the requirements, specs, development and/or testing because nobody “sees it”. The truth is, every bit of your site is important and should not be taken lightly.
Particularly in this economy, we face challenges with client budget issues often. The story is usually the same – “we need a great website but we don’t really have any money”. Or, “can’t you just make me a site that looks like that one?” It’s tough. How do we balance getting the customer what they need but without cutting too many corners and treating parts of their site like my back yard? It’s a tough job, that’s for sure.
Popularity: 33% [?]
This is actually an extremely accurate analogy, and one that my application developer would be amused by (his lawn is exquisite). The dark and nebulous nature of the ‘backend’ of websites is often the most overlooked and under-appreciated part of the development process, and that’s saying a lot coming from a designer who tends to run screaming away from code.
But there’s a crucial connection between a tidy ‘frontyard’ and a clean, organized backyard. I’ll call it ‘code appeal’ for the purposes of this post. What differentiates your yard from your neighbor’s is attention to detail and a fundamental grasp of lawncare mechanics. It’s visual, yet it’s simultaneously functional. Successful website architecture is really no different, it’s a proprietary, harmonious blend of design flair and intuitive functionality.
But let’s face the facts: at the end of the day, it all boils down to how much gas you’ve got for the mower and how big a budget the client has for the project. Without either, nothing’s getting mowed. If the backend is a custom CMS, then usability and flexibility should be of primary importance, and it’s part of our job to sell the client on the importance of having a backyard big enough to work in. The landscaping is flexible!
If every developer would pause during each phase of their website project and assess whether this harmony is still in place, the final result will inevitably be fresher, greener. More healthy. Best of all–the backend will be free of chinch bugs!