Job Roles, Continued

Teams

The more people specialize, the more likely it is that teams of experts will be needed to build a complex site. And as far as large-scale web work goes, teams are here to stay. The Wall Street Journal can no more turn out its publication on the web with one developer than it can turn out its newspaper with one reporter. Increasing functionality, original content, and frequency of updates make today's large-scale web sites large-scale undertakings that require teamwork and coordination.

Teams also spawn new job roles, such as project managers, account managers, and production coordinators. A large project may support a project manager and production coordinator, in addition to several designers, scripters and coders, programmers, and content developers.

Typical Team Roles
Though the nature of the project affects the makeup of the team, there are some common team roles that exist from web project to web project. A typical large- or medium-scale web project, whether it's completed in house or with freelancers, will usually require that the following roles be represented:

1) Project lead
The role of the project lead is to a) to maintain the vision and goals of the project throughout the development process, and b) to make sure things get done (on time and within budget). The project lead is responsible for scheduling, progress reports, workflow, and client relations.

2) Designer
The role of the designer is to visually communicate the site's message. This often includes doing navigation design, hiring freelance illustrators if needed, or even running a user test.

3) Programmer
The web programmer is responsible for making "interactive" portions of the site work. This may include creating a shopping cart application, building a database, or doing feedback forms. Often, the programmer gets "specs" (specifications) or requirements from the project lead. Depending on the size of the project, the web programmer may also be responsible for the back end or server.

4) Content developer
The content developer is one of the most important roles on a web team, and one that is most often overlooked. The content developer is a writer and/or editor who creates or assembles the content that makes up the core of any site.

5) Production/coder
The production person is responsible for assembling and coding the site, and may also be responsible for some quality assurance tasks (such as browser compatibility or application testing). Depending on the team, a production person may also do image editing and graphics conversion.

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