Archive for the ‘questions’ Category

Back a couple of years ago, we had a number of references we used to give out upon request to potential clients. These references were clients of ours who had a particularly good experience working with our web design company. They were nice enough to take the time to talk to our potential clients about their experience with Noam Design, explain why they recommend us, and answer questions.

One day, a potential client asked us for some references, so I gave him a couple of contacts. The client called them up and spent quite a bit of time with them on the phone, asking detailed questions about us, our process, etc… The following day, the client calls me and ask me if I have some more references to give him – he said the praises he heard from both contacts were “too good” and he just wanted to double check and needed more reassurance. That was it for me – I told the client that he didn’t seem to be a good fit for us and I wished him the best of luck. Despite his best efforts, I refused to take on his project.

Since then, when asked for references, I invite people to contact any of our past clients via the contact info they display on their websites, but I don’t actually spend time making sure with these clients that it’s ok, and I don’t give out contact info. Over the years, this decision saved me a lot of time that would otherwise have been wasted in unnecessary phone calls, emails, and back-and-forths. I think this business decision actually improved our sales – clients who requested references got the idea that we are not trying hard to convince them to work with us, and at the same time we were confident that any of our clients can serve as a good reference.

Recently, one of our clients asked me how is it possible for us to make major business/vendor decisions without submitting a web design proposal, document or contract stating the scope and assumptions of the project? Here are some extracts from my reply: (more…)

I’ve been playing around with the design of Website Temple’s home page, and I thought it’d be interesting to share a few of the variations I came up with for the design of the main Flash element.

I am not looking for a brand new design so the variations are just slightly different. I am looking to see which version will increase the site’s retention rate and conversion rate. Which design do you think will perform best? (more…)

A couple of weeks ago, I passed on a project with a potential client who wanted to work with us on the development of his web start-up business. Technologically the project was quite interesting as it involved a few challenging aspects as well as a relatively wide array of professional skills. Overall, the project was a perfect match for our web development company and it would be basically impossible for this client to find another web development firm with the necessary set of skills to complete the project in a professional manner. (more…)

One of our clients recently asked me if we were “insured if the technology you use for a website breaks down and hurts business generated by the site”.  As far as I know, such insurance doesn’t exist in the web world as it would be impossible to insure a website or web application against bugs or problems that can potentially arise. Here is why:

Browsers are regularly updated and new browsers are constantly created. Different browsers and different browser versions interpret web pages differently. Websites and web applications need to be adjusted, maintained, and updated accordingly in order to continue to work properly in new browsers.

New computers come out on the market all the time, with new or updated operating systems, platforms, etc… And that influences some aspects of your website as well such as available fonts, font aliasing, etc… It is sometimes enough for a font to be interpreted slightly differently to throw off the page design by adding a new line for example.

On the server side, a server can crash or malfunction and cause the website or web application to bug, even if the application itslef is perfect.

There are so many factors and variables that come into account when it comes to a website or web application that insuring them just doesn’t make any sense. Sure we can guarantee that our work is of the highest standards and that the website or web application will work perfectly on all CURRENT major browsers, operating systems, and computers. Promissing more than that would just be empty of meaning and no Web Design Company out there can deliver beyond that.