Website developer Vs Website designer?

[Sibs2]

Hi everyone
Whats the difference between a website developer and a website designer? Which do I need if I have an old unloved website which probably needs to be built again from scratch?
Thanks in advance

 

[Websitehandyman]

The tend to be both the same but you need to broaden your view or define what you want from your website to determine what type of service you need to lead with when choosing someone.

Design - You want it looking better
Developer - You want a better system
Both - You want it to be easier to use & maintain

Web Business Developer - Management of services, more visits, better reporting and advice on creation of achievable goals for the site.

 

[StoreFeeder]

As a web designer I differentiate the two like this...

For me a web designer does the design as well as what's called 'front-end development' such as any HTML and styling. So if for exmaple you have an information brochure site a web designer can generally take care of updating this for you.

If however your website includes a database or includes any custom functionality behind it you'd probably need to get a web developer invoved.

Hope that helps.

 

[stugster]

There's a funny infographic here: http://sixrevisions.com/infographics/web-designers-vs-web-developers-infographic/

But also a more detailed discussion here: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/118483-web-designer-vs-web-developer/

 

[tommy]

I see it as the following:

Web Designer: Individual you creates the creative (how the site looks) in applications such as Photoshop/Fireworks for which a web developer will cut up and create into a website.

Web Developer: Individual who develops the site using HTML, CSS, JavaScript (AKA front-end)

Software engineer: Develops the backend .NET, PHP, Java etc.

But from the places I've worked the Web Designer doesn't touch any of the code including front-end.

Tom

 

[Sibs2]

Thanks Guys,
Web designer then! My needs are simple - we have the website simply to have a "web-presence". We don't sell online.
BTW - thanks for the links Stugster
Thanks

 

[FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper]

I see it as the following:

Web Designer: Individual you creates the creative (how the site looks) in applications such as Photoshop/Fireworks for which a web developer will cut up and create into a website.

Web Developer: Individual who develops the site using HTML, CSS, JavaScript (AKA front-end)

Software engineer: Develops the backend .NET, PHP, Java etc.

But from the places I've worked the Web Designer doesn't touch any of the code including front-end.

Tom

I agree with this, when I work with designers they never go beyond Photoshop or whichever other graphics programs they use. Why would a designer know how to write HTML/CSS.

 

[ITsoldUK]

I am a qualified developer who's skills lie in programming, development of databases and source code workings such as css/html/asp etc

I can 'build' you a website from scratch that will work perfectly well, but for a sexy, graphically dramatic I would work from a design supplied (not a tout for work but a statement btw...or customise one from a premium paid for theme/template) but can I 'design' one? Nope....

I tend to put a website designer into the same genre as graphic designers.

Some can code them from this stage and do it very well but me....nope, I slice, dice and add functionality to someone else's work produced from their design talents.

That someone, by the way, is the designer we outsource to not just any old design that exists (re SOPA etc....)

In a nutshell, a designer knows how to make a website look cool and a developer knows how to make it work properly...Professional's that is, not Joe from Delhi working for 1.25ph

As with everything, these are just my opinions and in no way are meant as a statement of fact nor do the represent ITsold's official stance on this matter which is the world is full of designers that keep developers busy putting sites right...

 

[Sibs2]

Hmm - developer then?! Still a bit confused to be honest about which to go for but get that a developer builds functionality and a designer makes it attractive to use.
All I need is a couple of (professional looking) pages, who we are, what we do, a few pictures/videos which I assume is fairly basic to those that know how. Only other thing would possibly be a "click here to request a service" or "click here to request an mot".

Would either (designer/developer) know anything about SEO or do I have to go elsewhere for that?
Thanks for the replies

 

[alphanumeric]

You also have specialisations for example a web ui designer, e-commerce designer, multi-media etc etc etc.

A good designer should be able to provide what you need, he will also be able to do the onsite seo work however I would allways advise going with another company to handles your seo requirements, and it might be worth talking to both at the same time.

 

[woodss]

IMO if you can't build the website (at least the HTML/CSS) required to make your design funtional, you aren't a web designer. It's part and parcel, otherwise you're just a graphic designer. Blindly designing something without thinking about the development process is ridiculous.

The web developer should be able to cover HTML/CSS *and* at least one backend language such as C# (.NET) or PHP for instance to make the HTML/CSS dynamic. Bonus points for knowing how to setup/manage databases, deploy the site across servers and set up permissions on the server.

This is probably the difference between people who claim to be web professionals, and those who have actually worked the ropes.

 

[edmondscommerce]

@ the OP

You need both if you want to build a new site

You might decide to cut corners on the design though by using an off the shelf theme if you are using a popular package such as Magento, osCommerce etc.

If you want a custom design though, you definitely need a web designer to create that design.

Then you are likely to need a web developer to implement the design plus any functionality changes, upgrades etc that are required.

 

[fisicx]

Someone who just knocks up the layout of the site isn't a web designer.

A web designer will looks ate the target market, the products or services on offer, the calls to action, the infomation flows, scope and depth of required content, the navigation systems, the planned marketing strategy and everything else.

They may well use graphic artists, developers, programmers, content writers, marketeers and researchers in the design process.

So anyone who accepts a photoshop mockup as their website design is pretty much doomed to failure.

 

[FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper]

IMO if you can't build the website (at least the HTML/CSS) required to make your design funtional, you aren't a web designer. It's part and parcel, otherwise you're just a graphic designer. Blindly designing something without thinking about the development process is ridiculous.

Please could you expand on the second part?

I tend to go on the opposite opinion, when the creative side has no knowledge of the implementation side they are free to express their ideas without any prejudice. They are then discussed with the developer, some items are not practical, some need changing a bit, some are doable but very complex (and this is the key to separating the design/development knowledge).

I tend to work with Graphic Designers, they look after a companies full media portfolio (web/print) and branding.

Thinking about it I can't think of anyone who is solely a "web designer". They are all graphic designers who don't go past the photoshop stage. It isn't simply a PSD file though (go on code it), there is a lot of work regarding the navigation and way a user moves around a site, the whole experience.

 

[fisicx]

You can design, develop and launch a site without any 'front end' layout.

The way a site looks should be one of the last things you do. If a site has been properly constructed all you need to do is update the style sheets.

If you begin with the PSD you are hampering the design process which may well experiment with different navigation systems, content structures, calls to action and forms.

And of course when you begin user testing you may discover the actual layout just doesn't work. A well built site would just need a change to the CSS. A site based on a set of PSDs couldn't do that.

 

[edmondscommerce]

A site based on a set of PSDs couldn't do that.

I think that all depends how the PSD design was implemented

 

[fisicx]

I think that all depends how the PSD design was implemented

Fair enough but it's generally not a good way to begin the design process. A few concept mockups are fine but get the site structure sorted first before fiddling around with fonts and colours and funky navigation hovers.

And trying to drop a PSD onto a wordpress theme is never easy no matter how it's been implemented.

 

[thebusinesscookbook]

Hi everyone
Whats the difference between a website developer and a website designer? Which do I need if I have an old unloved website which probably needs to be built again from scratch?
Thanks in advance

Probably the best analogy I can think of is the workings of a car - underlying mechanics and then the interior and exterior design that sit on top of it to make it comfortable to drive..

Generally, I'd say that a developer handles the mechanics of the website - ie. what does it actually do in the background / behind the scenes.

The designer's role is to make it look good, and to put forward a design that is intuitive for the user.

In addition, there's now probably another role to advise on good and suitable content for websites, along with the SEO, marketing and advertising strategy of it.

If in doubt, ask to see some example sites of theirs and tell them the functionality that you want out of your site (now and also for the future).

 

[trebor8]

IMO if you can't build the website (at least the HTML/CSS) required to make your design funtional, you aren't a web designer. It's part and parcel, otherwise you're just a graphic designer..

I've come across quite a few who can't do graphic design either

 

[Faevilangel]

Website Designer > Develops design / graphics and structure for the site.
Website Developer > Puts the website designers work into a web ready format.

The website designer should have a basic knowledge of html, css and javascript. The developer would have a much more advanced knowledge of the above and will know server side languages such as .net, asp, php, coldfusion etc.

 

[TickledPink]

Basically, unless you're looking for a very basic site where the content won't change very much, you just need a designer. If you want one where you can change the content yourself, you need both a developer and a designer.

Typically, developers can't be arsed with design and designers don't want to learn anything too technical. It's quite rare to find someone who is proficient at both but they are out there.

Alternatively, you can find designers who are comfortable making templates for free CMS systems like Joomla (a friend of mine does it). That gives you the best of both worlds and probably less of the cost.

 

[edmondscommerce]

I think more accurate would be:

Typically, developers can't be arsed with design

and

designers don't want to learn can't do anything too technical

 

[fixedit]

Thanks Guys,
Web designer then! My needs are simple - we have the website simply to have a "web-presence". We don't sell online.
BTW - thanks for the links Stugster
Thanks

Given what you're after a web designer should be able to do everything you need.

In my experience you only need a developer if you're doing something different that there isn't an existing solution for, or need something large and custom.

The guys who invented Twitter, needed a developer, because it didn't exist.

The guys/guy who own this website just needed a web designer to install the forum code and get it up and running (or did it themselves, most likely).

But don't fall into the trap of thinking your website isn't selling online. If you need a website at all, it needs to sell your services or products whether the sale is closed online or offline. That's where I feel a lot of designers sometimes miss a trick.

 

[DotNetWebs]

IMO the term "Web Developer" is getting misused a lot in this thread.

A "Developer" is a programmer / software engineer.

Somebody who creates a website with [static] HTML / CSS / JavaScript (that is restricted to the presentation of the HTML) is not a 'developer' they are 'web designers'.

The developer is a programmer who adds functionality to the site. Traditionally this would normally have been server-side.

Modern Ajax type sites have introduced a lot of functionality that needs to be created client-side. This requires 'front-end' developers.

The definition of a 'front-end' developer for me is a programmer who is aware of the requirements of the back-end functionality and writes client-side methods to call them etc.

Regards

Dotty

 

[jaydenharris98]

Hello,

Numerous persons use the two terms “web design” and “web development” interchangeably, but they really do have two different senses. If you are looking to build your website, you need to know the difference.

A Web design is the customer-facing part of the website. The web designer is a person who uses graphics programs such as Photoshop, Gimp, Fireworks and the like to create website skins and then use another program to make their design come to life for the web. Good web designers know how to put together the principles of design to create a site that looks great. They also understand about usability and how to create a site that customers want to navigate around in because it’s so easy to do.

A web developer is a person who develops websites from the ground up. And Web development is the back-end of the website, the programming and interactions on the pages. A web developer focuses on how a site works and how the customers get things done on it. They understand about how web forms work and can keep a site running effectively.

 

[fisicx]

Agree with the second part of you post but not the first part. Try 'skinning' or creating a theme for a CMS using a graphics application and you will soon become unstuck

 

[Ewan-1]

Web developers build the structure of the website and a lot of the background work like php, javascript etc... where as web designers do the html/css and graphic design elements of the site.

 

[garyscottadamson]

I thought I'd chip in here as there are a few things that I agree and disagree with. There are lots of different roles involved in making a website. At the bare minimum, these roles would be:

Website Content Development (What's the message of the site)
Website designer (Designs the site)
Website developer (Codes it)

Although these 3 roles are seperate they are sometimes and often undertaken by one single person. This is nescessary because a designer cannot properly design a site if he doesn't know what technologies are available to use. Think about CSS3, an advance in web design which is used by web developers, but in order to use these new technologies, web developers must be instructed to do in the design mockup.

If you are looking for a refresh of your website, then most designers will be able to design and code for you. I personally deal with web strategy, web design and front end development, and I am not a unique case.

Also someone said that websites should be first written in HTML and then have stylesheets added to them. I disagree to an extent with this idea, as the way in which content is layed out can effect the possibilities that a stylesheet can have upon it.\

The way I design websites is:

1. Write content and define a clear message based on business goals and objectives
2. Design a mockup of the site in fireworks or photoshop
3. Code the design into HTML

Any other way of doing things is philosophically flawed... Maybe what toucher was highlighting is that it is bad to design a site before defining a clear message and writing content.

 

[fisicx]

Any other way of doing things is philosophically flawed...

Hmm...

I think your method is philosophically flawed.

I'd suggest;
1. Write content and define a clear message based on business goals and objectives
2. Put the content into a basic wireframe
3. Test to destruction
4. Make it look pretty

Don't go anywhere near photoshop or fireworks until you have tested the structure. In fact don't ever go anywhere near photoshop for your layout.

 

[garyscottadamson]

but your assuming that design is just about making it look pretty.

Colours and contrast in call to action buttons and other elements have been proven to highly affect conversion rates.

We need to test the effectiveness of colour and contrast and the only way to test them is to wait until everything is fully completed.

There are a few web designers who are too engaged with how websites look, the artistic types who don’t care about content and push for weird and wacky designs. The best web developers are obviously against this... but I think you take it too far, by demoting design to the absolute bottom of the pile.

 

[fisicx]

but your assuming that design is just about making it look pretty.

No. I'm saying that the layout is the last thing to worry about.

Suppose you come up with this great layout. you spend hours making it look swish in photoshop and a developer spends hours converting this to a CMS theme and when you launch it all goes pear shaped.

Make sure the site works first and then faff about with the layout. Do it with CSS not with photoshop so you can split test various button colours and positions. For example. A drop down CSS navigation list can be 100% styled on the go using CSS. If it's created using photoshop you can't.

 

[vishalchadha53]

Web developer – A web developer is a person who develops websites from the ground up. They know the languages (given that HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language we will classify it a language) they are using (including, but not limited to HTML, Javascript), as well as the style sheets. They may use fancy syntax highlighters, but they don’t require them to successfully create a site.

Web designer – A web designer is a person who uses graphics programs such as Photoshop, Gimp, Fireworks and the like to create website skins (layouts) and then use another program (such as Dreamweaver or Visual Web Developer) to make their design come to life for the web. They almost solely rely on the design views the program they use provides.

 

[fisicx]

If you had actually read the posts in the thread you would realise that your definitions are woefully out of date.

You cannot use a graphics program to create a layout for a CMS. And they aren't very good for static sites either.

 

[alphanumeric]

You cannot use a graphics program to create a layout for a CMS. And they aren't very good for static sites either.

Yes you can, infact the client im working for at the moments requires every single category page to be designed within photoshop for "real" user testing before going into production.

How do you present ideas to clients? Give them a wire frame and a promise it will look ok once done?

 

[edmondscommerce]

I'm actually a huge fan of wireframing as it allows functionality and site structure to be separated from the process of agonising over which shade of blue to use (for example).

We don't tend to get involved in the shades of blue discussions as we focus on development only.

The designer can use a good wire frame to design against, knowing that they are designing in all the required page elements.

 

[money24seven]

Looks like this will be an relatively easy challenge, will you be providing the videos and photographs. You will also need to consider a decent header and what about customer testimonials. As it's 2012 I would suggest building it on a blog.

 

[fisicx]

How do you present ideas to clients? Give them a wire frame and a promise it will look ok once done?

Of course not.

Nothing wrong with using PS or some other application to create some samples but you can't then take a psd and convert it (for example) into a wordpress theme.

If the client is daft enough to pay you loads of money to create series of PS layouts for every page of the site then take their money.

What happens after all your work when they realise they need two more link in the nav bar or need a contact form in a sidebar? If you have built the site using a logical structure and a CSS then it's a doddle.

 

[alphanumeric]

Of course not. Nothing wrong with using PS or some other application to create some samples but you can't then take a psd and convert it (for example) into a wordpress theme.

Why?

If the client is daft enough to pay you loads of money to create series of PS layouts for every page of the site then take their money.

Each design goes through user testing to gauge response and reaction to almost every element on the page, for example how certain colours effect product advertisement even how bold an outline needs to be for maximum effect. But factor in that the design must last at least 3-5 years before the next major update, then the testing becomes worth the effort.

What happens after all your work when they realise they need two more link in the nav bar or need a contact form in a sidebar? If you have built the site using a logical structure and a CSS then it's a doddle.

A decent amount of research should stop this from happening close to launch, yes drastic changes maybe needed, but it would not be any harder as the site would be built as you describe.

 

[fisicx]

Why?

Because a CMS seperates the the theme out into different files: header, footer, sidebar, main content and so on. Everything is controlled by the CSS. So if you create using photoshop and convert to HTML/CSS you still can't us it until each bit is broken up and dropped into the specific file. And even then your HTML won't work because the on page elements are all controlled using PHP/ASP etectera.

During user testing I will change the navigation form top to left to right. I'll play with padding, margins. font sizes width and so on. I can trial different calls to actions, change buttons, colours and backgrounds all through the CSS. It takes seconds and I can see how users react to the changes.

Consider as well the checkout. You can't build and test a checkout process using photoshop. Try building a complex form and testing how users react to errors using photoshop. You need a live site to do all this.

And why wait 3-5 before a redesign? An effective site will go through all sorts of tweaks and updates throughout it's life. In fact if you aren't constantly adjusting then the site will never reach full potential.

 

[alphanumeric]

Because a CMS seperates the the theme out into different files: header, footer, sidebar, main content and so on. Everything is controlled by the CSS. So if you create using photoshop and convert to HTML/CSS you still can't us it until each bit is broken up and dropped into the specific file. And even then your HTML won't work because the on page elements are all controlled using PHP/ASP etectera.

Unless you have the skill to do that, ie i can design a site in photoshop then convert it into wordpress and various other cms, open source carts.

Im not going to go much into how you do user testing as it differs to what i call user testing.

However i will say its worth having a read of http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2006/07/label-placement-in-forms.php

its an old article but still very relevent in how to design forms etc, if you dont have access to a controlled testing environment.