by edevmachine
It’s been said you aren’t really an expert on a topic until you can write about that topic so that everyone can understand it. Just think about it a second…if you can’t explain a topic to a lay-person without resorting to a bunch of techno-jargon, then the field is probably still somewhat abstract to you…therefore you are not an expert. Let’s apply this principle to check whether a potential web designer is an expert.

Ok. So you’ve created a “short list” of potential web designers to design your website. Hopefully you’ve checked their home page (and portfolio) for conforming to valid web standards using http://validator.w3.org, tested their portfolio in a few different web browsers, and most importantly didn’t use the “lowest bidder” philosophy (since this will probably cost you much more later).

Now give these web designers a test to see if they truely are “experts.” Pick some feature of what you want in your web design, and ask them to write you an email explaining how they intend to implement the feature. Be honest…tell them up front that you want to understand how they will implement the feature.

Some web designers may refuse the idea right away. They are the “expert”…how dare you ask them to explain their actions! Others will ask charge you a bit for it (you are taking up their time you know), however it would be money well spent to eliminate the wannabies.

Remember the idea here is that you should understand how they are going to implement this feature. If their explanation is filled with “Coldfusion” this; and “client-side script” that; and “polymorphism” some other thing; then you probably aren’t dealing with an expert. If on the other hand, you receive a detailed explanation without a bunch of “techno-babble” then you have probably found yourself an expert. Basically, the one with the clearest, most detailed explanation knows that topic.

Well done!

Here at EDevMachine Web2.0 Design would be pleased to take an “expert” test.

Article Directory: Article Dashboard