Comments on: The plight of the in-house designer

By: bgrggfe

bgrggfe — Sat, 26 May 2012 02:04:00 +0000

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By: Marc

Marc — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:40:39 +0000

Carl I usually print screenshots and include the browser window, it puts it into context.

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:06:43 +0000

The most trying times of an in-house web designer is when you're asked to print out the web site for review. Just awful. This has happened countless times, and you end up getting a stapled bunch of papers back with red pen ink and scribbles all over it. Then when they wonder why the graphics didn't get printed out because you used a print.css file it gets even more fun to explain. ;)

By: lawless

lawless — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:09:14 +0000

From my current experience, WORKFLOW would be one to add to the list. I recently went from one of 4 in-house designers for a Fortune 500 company to the sole in-house guy for a small software firm. I got used to the whole source control DEV-STAGE-PRODUCTION environment and saw the benefits of implementing it. Currently I’m wrangling code from 3 different servers and pulling them onto my local machine for testing before deploying the code live straight to the production servers.
Create a consistent workflow for managing and backing up the sites you design and maintain. It’s helpful for you and is a great help to anyone who has to inherit your projects.
As far as snippet libraries, I have used something as simple as a folder named “code_library” on the Dev server that was accessible to all designers/developers. Create sub-folders for the type of code with example .htm files of the code in action so others can get a quick overview of what it does and how to implement it. This is a good repository for design teams and helps to learn new tricks and code from others around you. Saves time and testing as well, as most snippets tend to be well tested across different environments.

By: Tom Belcher

Tom Belcher — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:39:30 +0000

Did anybody answer Josh’ comment? as this is just what I thought of straight after reading Paul’s advice on snippets… In the mean time I’ll do some google searching.
Hey Paul, really enjoyed this article! I’ve recently moved to a position as an in house designer and would very much like to start a snipppets library for our team. I’ve been a bit stumped as to what software or structure to use to accomplish this. Any suggestions? Thx!

By: James Tryon

James Tryon — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:27:28 +0000

the BIGGEST problems I had was, I was a in-house contractor for a vary large company. I was not allowed to go to any of the meetings and i never got the chance to fight for my ideas.

By: curtismchale

curtismchale — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:01:21 +0000

I am currently in my second in house role and my first one was really not good. I am not sure why they had an in house designer as they didn't really want to give me any time to work on their site. If I was willing to work extra hours from home I could get stuff done. Luckily now I work with at least one other designer and they work to give me the tools needed to get my job done. Flexible telecommuting options. It can go well if the management understands and values the position.

By: Mathew Patterson

Mathew Patterson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:52:15 +0000

Good article Paul, it definitely covers many of the issues I have personally dealt with in the past.
I also want to point out that there are a lot of upsides to being an inhouse designer too – you get to be really involved in a website over a long period, so you see what works in practice, not just in theory.
You can develop deep product knowledge in an area, which is useful for future roles. You often also get the opportunity to do a lot of different things – IA, design, front end code, copy writing…whereas in an agency your role can be much more defined for you.
Inhouse design, especially where you are the design team, is an excellent way to get in and really create your ideal job, if you have the guts to make it happen!

By: Tiffehr

Tiffehr — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:05:58 +0000

Excellent points. Having erred my way into learning them all, I hope in-house designers/devs take this to heart. Another I would add: if you leave, leave a note where designers/devs will find it that detail your design & coding mindset at that time, so they know what they're inheriting and why. Designers/devs who take over your work can trash your reputation if they don't understand where you were on the learning curve, or why you made decisions the way you did. That can migrate to old bosses, and there into references for new jobs. I made that mistake at the job in which I wrapped my brain around web standards. The devs who came after me painted me as incompetent to management, and I had to work some angles to get a good reference outside my old chain-of-command.

By: bob

bob — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:31:52 +0000

This article brings back memories of discouraging times. I used to work for a small company full of self proclaimed internet experts. I’d always present things in a positive manner, backing designs with usability concepts and evidence. I would prepare multiple solutions and share multiple sources of supportive evidence for why we might consider making a change. They just disregarded everything I would say writing me off as being difficult. It was one of those deals like “this is how it is, nobody knows why and presently we can’t find any initial reasoning.. but lets assume maybe their was”
When I left they hired two interns to replace me. I heard through the grape vine one of the interview questions was along the lines of “We are looking for somebody who does exactly as we tell them, have you ever found yourself questioning authority?”
Thank goodness thing I’ve moved on to greener pastures and a company that embraces new technologies and encourages a learning environment.