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This is the second part of the post I wrote last week where I mentioned that clients are as guilty as developers. I recommend you read what developers are doing wrong for better understanding of this discourse.
Let’s proceed to how clients are contributing their quota to this.
1. Lack of clarity and direction
In my 7 years experience of building websites, I realised that 90% of clients fall into two categories; the ones that do not know exactly what they want and the ones that wants too much than necessary (watch this video). Either ways, they end up having content-deficient and/or feature-flooded website. Not knowing the database entities involved in a web project is forgivable, but not knowing who the target user is, what he will be able to do or not able to do and so on, should not be heard.
Answering little questions like these gives a concise direction and narrow down the available approaches to getting web projects done. Just know what your end goals are before calling up a developer. And if you don’t, then consult one to help fine-tune your ideas. And if you are the type that have too much to do, I’ll suggest you make a list, break them down into “must-haves” and “additional-features” and put them in phases for proper project execution.
2. Trust Issues
Just imagine a scenario where a patient decides and dictates to the Doctor when and how a medication should be administered. Who does that? Surprisingly, this is what developers and designers face everyday; people without in-depth understanding of how design and dev works making decisions without consulting or listening to what experts in the subject at hand have to say. Most clients love to have it done their way or never done.
Clients really have to understand that designers and developers are creative individuals with the same painstaking skill and acquired experience like any other professional like Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers. The good ones have spent a lot of their life online, seen what works and what does not, and can make wise decisions and give informed recommendations. Do well to trust their judgment and recommendations. We know the colours, fonts, content and flow that works, trust us!
[easy-tweet tweet=”Designers & developers are creative individuals with the same painstaking skill & acquired experience like any other professional” user=”Oluwarufus” url=”http://oluwarufus.com/dev/why-we-still-have-shitty-websites-the-client/” template=”dark”]
3. Crazy Budget
A handful of Nigerian clients want a Jumia.com.ng or Konga.com with a budget of 75k. Obviously, they do not know what it takes to have these sites up and running. Like I said, almost all the sites you see out there looking good in all their glory are built and maintained by a team, often salaried. We all know getting an iPhone 6 with a Nokia budget is not feasible (except you want this).
You want a premium website, then pay a premium fee for it. I believe you know what to do to get a funny-looking website as well; pay a laughable fee. Stop saying Designers/Developers are hard to find. Name the right figure and I assure you of their rapt attention and if you need to agree to a retainer-ship, just do it. One thing is certain though, there is a developer that fits your budget and the quality of work expected is inseparable.
4. DIY is not always the best
Yeah, I know some people have the kind of website they currently have ’cause, they could not afford the price that comes with getting a professional, and resolve to building one for themselves. This may work for personal website (that’s actually how some people learn on-the-job), but for people that know the meaning of branding beyond the dictionary meaning and know the kind of audience they want to attract with their website, I’d say this is a BIG NO.
[easy-tweet tweet=”You want a premium website, then pay a premium fee for it. ” user=”Oluwarufus” url=”http://oluwarufus.com/dev/why-we-still-have-shitty-websites-the-client/” template=”dark”]
Ehm…..as much as possible, people need to stop building website themselves and start hiring the services of a professional or a creative agency. And even if you must, I recommend you get hands-on training before doing it yourself.
Final thoughts
Just like the way you get your health back when see a doctor and get the right medication, clients should see developers and designers as doctors. It’s all for the greater good; a good looking and functional website.
Everyone wins after all.
I look forward to your comment on this and don’t forget to hit the “love” icon.
PS
Don’t mind my choice of image, websites like that are just usually too expensive for their look in my country. 
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