Web design - a term that is getting on in years

A website can become an art project. Granted, stylistic skills are useful when it comes to images, typography or color combinations, headlines and design guidelines. All of these play a big role, but the days of static elements on a website are gone or only occasionally applied.

If there is no need to change the content, there won't be much change in the message, the content. The role of the web designer has become more diverse, he/she practices a craft, even if this is "only on the computer". This craft has become very complex, as well as the fields of activity. Maybe it is better to understand this way, if the term webdesigner develops more and more variants, which let the webdesigner dive into many possible areas. There is, for example, programming, because in addition to image, video or sound editing, many things are required of a web designer. This is due in no small part to the fact that companies are not always able to staff the various specialties with qualified personnel.

Mistaken decisions are bound to happen

So it comes to wrong decisions which makes employees vulnerable, they often carry a high degree of responsibility. Image editing is of great importance, but when images are dynamically inserted into a website, it becomes more difficult, because JavaScript can be of importance here. This means that professions are moving into other fields of activity that have not always been adequately learned, because the Internet has also developed so rapidly. Traditional professions like butcher, carpenter or bricklayer are hundreds of years old. JavaScript in our example is only a few decades young. So people try to classify the profession of web designer, which sometimes doesn't make things less difficult. What is behind it to be able to do a lot of things is not always completely clear to personnel, it may seem. A lot of things are actually required of web designers, however, can be executed not infrequently by one person alone.

Web design is becoming more and more complex

Websites have become complex, requirements are constantly changing, many areas make up the range of services and the importance and task of websites can hardly be narrowed down de facto. Thus, programming mixes with design or the web designer becomes a sound or audio technician. In addition, there are social media channels, databases or video editing with elaborate YouTube content, where employees can become influencers or YouTubers, bloggers or vloggers. Then the whole thing has to be analyzed and statistically evaluated and for everything there are formatting languages like CSS or programming languages like JavaScript, PHP, Python or Ruby on Rails - you name it. As exotic as all that may sound, I can only imagine how difficult it can be for companies to build a functioning IT infrastructure.

The Content Manager

Well, what do you actually want to achieve with your own company presence, no doubt a still popular question. Indeed, it's not an unwarranted question, as social media in particular offers a much wider range of content that can be shared online. This also poses risks that are quicker to iron out in websites, because mistakes in social channels can have fatal consequences. Search engines copy websites and what once circulated can only be undone with a lot of effort, if at all. The web can be brutal and there is no forgiveness on the internet. So now the web designer also becomes the content manager and if the web designer doesn't know what a content manager is supposed to do, it leads to conflict. Large companies have specialized staff for all areas. Social media managers or content managers, UI /UX designers or front-end developers, editors or CMS WordPress professionals, etc. An all-rounder can't cover all these areas competently - there will be gaps and there's no shame in that. This can mutate into a problem for companies if strengths and weaknesses of employees are not analyzed and responsibilities are distributed wisely.

Job ads are becoming a mystery

Filling out a job profile becomes a problem when job ads are published with templates. Recruiters need to be aware of what a web designer can really do in practice. As mentioned above, medium-sized companies, Internet administrators probably divide into individual tasks and most likely expect the tasks to be done professionally and competently. This approach proves fatal and serious mistakes can happen if the positions are not filled competently. It has happened that interns have completely crippled web servers. Recently I heard about a case where exactly that happened and there wasn't even a backup. This is not uncommon, and even the most capable people make mistakes that can have disastrous consequences.

Shit happens!

How could we avoid all this, or at least reduce the likelihood of it happening? Facebook and Ebay have also been "OFFLINE" for hours at a time, or even several times. A content manager who has to bring up the company pages again in such a situation might be overwhelmed. On the other hand, the programmer will not necessarily be a good copywriter. Programmers are often in the tunnel anyway, so engrossed in their task that they often don't care about design, but about functionality. Steve Jobs was not a programmer, but he had a strong sense of aesthetics. That's not to say that functionality fell short with him, he could just combine. I doubt that people like Steve Jobs would be recognized in a regional company. Not in Germany anyway, because Silicon Valley is a few thousand kilometers further west on the Pacific coast - and things work differently in California. I can say that I'm entitled to have a say - I lived on the West Coast for four years, up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. Of course, also on the east coast of the States or in Arizona. Anyway, I can get a reasonably good picture. Of course, there are victims and perpetrators in personnel management in the States as well, and all that glitters is not gold in the Bay Area either, but there are incisive differences.

Foreign use on the job

But what am I trying to tell my reader anyway, what am I trying to express or even complain about? The key word is misappropriation, because this happens not only in the IT industry, but certainly in medicine or elsewhere. Maybe staff shortage is the problem, if not - then sooner or later misappropriation of staff becomes the problem. The worst case occurs when people are hired and the training phase is over. Puppy protection, I even heard that once in a company. Then the puppy protection is over and I confront the web designer with the bitter truth, which can often be unpleasant when it suddenly comes to tasks that turn out to be unsolvable. From my point of view, the boss of a company is never or rather rarely the problem. Bosses want to be left alone, are absorbed in other tasks. You would think that skilled personnel would be hired to competently solve tasks, but the reality is often different.

Complexity requires room for development

So what have we learned? The bottom line is that the tasks for IT staff are diverse and increasingly complex. The Internet - the digital age - is advancing in quantum leaps and the company should be happy about every employee who gives his best and tries to solve tasks, even if they sometimes seem unsolvable. It is not always the educated ones who manage complex tasks atok. In practice, it looks quite different, although I must admit that a meaningful application is, of course, necessary. Of course, you have to try to find out where an employee's strengths lie, right? But who figures that out, and how do you figure it out yourself if you find yourself in such a situation?

Slow down, don't be so fast with the wild horses!

Actually, the answer to sensible employment rhythms is already in the job description. In my opinion, employees should not enter a job with bang for the buck, not necessarily in the IT industry. Of course, it must be clarified in advance what the company actually needs and what knowledge resources are important. Above all, the recruiter responsible for the advertised position needs to know this. The first impression at the interview may be advantageous, but it proves nothing. IT geeks are often tinkerers, they can improvise, they need to feel comfortable and have the freedom to try things out. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and "test, test, test" is a sine qua non for expandable knowledge. The brightest minds that really made a difference often dropped out of college, came from other professions, or had to find themselves first. Employees grow with the company and with the tasks they are given.

The boss is not the problem

If the chemistry is not right, and this happens more with work colleagues than with the boss, then the job becomes an impossible task. That's why the biggest companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard or Amazon were born where? In the garage at home, right? There have always been a handful of freaks who set out to change the world, even without top qualifications and sometimes even financial inferiority. This phenomenon has been evident in Silicon Valley for decades, and more than a few in the Bay Area have made it or will make it. Tesla, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and many others would not have had a chance in Germany. Many CEOs of top companies were not always presentable from the start, with smart suits, combed and freshly shaved. Nevertheless, they went their way against all odds and prejudices. But there's one thing they definitely didn't do: they didn't go down in any company. Namely, where they would not have been recognized, where they might have been sold short.

Enthusiasm makes a difference!

I admit that it sounds or must sound like a risk for a company to hire people like this. But let's start with more flexibility, how about hiring them by the hour. Nothing is set in stone and the tasks can be expanded or the freelancer or part-time jobber can grow into it. Covid-19 also taught us that it's not uncommon for freelancers to be equipped with a high-tech workstation that doesn't exist in the company. Why do computer geeks have four computers, six screens, a laptop, and things that are really unnecessary in the home office. The answer is enthusiasm, that's what drives these people, and enthusiasm should never be taken away from people. Enthusiasm is what sparks the essence of the progress of the most outstanding inventions.

Flexibility for company employees

I can imagine that more flexibility could solve some problems in companies. At least it's worth it, the web designer of today can even cover some areas when more staff is out of the question for cost reasons. But try and error is the order of the day here and important, can be worked out together and deepened. It should be worth it, should be worth it to the company.