Job Roles
Who do you want to be today?
7/6/98
by Jennifer Fleming
Am I the only one going through a professional identity crisis? Being in web work can be like building a house on a sand dune. Things are constantly shifting, and that's part of why I like this field. It can make nomenclature a tricky business, though.
For example, at some point or other in my career, I've called myself a web consultant, a web developer, a web designer, and a web producer. A friend and fellow web geek has had his job title and description changed three times in the past year. And lots of people in the field have turned away from generic titles like "webmaster" in favor of more specific roles such as web product evangelist, usability specialist, or production coordinator.
So what does all this mean? Looking past the shifting wording and creative euphemisms that seem to characterize our field, you can spot some definite trends in web roles. For example, specialization is in. So are teams. There's also a noticeable shift toward more customer-oriented positions, such as quality assurance, usability, and customer service.
In this article, we'll look at some of these trends. When you're done reading, you can help us get a handle on web roles by taking our developer survey. Let us know how you work and who you're working with. Results are ongoing, so you don't have to wait for us to tabulate and present them.
Specialization
In the beginning, there was The Webmaster. This superhuman creature managed all aspects of a site, from the back end to the front end and everything in between. Try to find a webmaster in the wild nowadays and you'll find it's a bit tougher than it used to be. This solitary generalist is a dying breed.
It's much more common these days to find specialists. Take a look at the jobs posted on major boards such as ZDNet's Job Engine (http://www.jobengine.com) or Monster Board (http://www.monster.com) . Remember the days when you might have read something like this?
Wanted: Webmaster
Must have a minimum of 5 years experience with HTML, CGI, Java, Javascript, Shockwave, audio/video editing, GIF animation, and Photoshop. Must be familiar with all major platforms including Windows NT and Unix. SQL, C++, Microsoft products, and strong organizational and interpersonal skills required.
Technologists
Among technologists, it's a rare bird who claims expertise in more than a handful of the technologies in use on the web today. Instead we have people who specialize in PHP, ASP, Java, or some combination thereof. There are also an increasing number of content-related specialties, such as ecommerce specialist, business knowledge systems specialist (aka intranet/extranet specialist), or security specialist.
Designers
The same holds true for designers. The broad, vague term "design" has been carved up into islands: graphic design, information design, and interaction design, to name some of the more common ones. Though these specialties share some traits, they emphasize different principles and approaches. Some designers choose to specialize in web advertising (such as banner ads and infomercials) or in fields related to design, such as usability or site architecture.
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.
Customer Focus
One heartening trend is in customer- or user-centered web roles. Usability experts, quality assurance people, human factors designers, and customer support representatives are all in increasing demand by companies engaged in large-scale web work.
At the Web Design and Development '98 conference (San Francisco, June 1998), there were probably double the number of usability or customer service sessions than there were last year. This represents a growing awareness of the importance of users in an interactive medium, and may evolve into a new core role on web teams: the keeper of the customer's flame. Few organizations have on-staff user-centered design experts, but many are starting to hire these positions. For example, Studio Archetype in San Francisco recently beefed up their design studio with an "Advanced UI Lab" (http://www.studioarchetype.com/lab/lab_frameset.html) whose work is described as follows:
"Our work is a combination of pure and applied research into improving Web sites and applications. Often the work is an outcome of specific projects; sometimes it's a byproduct of trend analysis. Our goals are to do things that have never been possible on the Web before, and to improve the usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment of the Web for users."
vivid studios, also in San Francisco, has an Experience Group (http://www.vivid.com/form/teams/experience.html) with a similar purpose. Members of the Experience Group participate in research and discovery projects (such as visiting a shopping mall or going to the theatre) designed to provide insight into web problems.
Take the Survey
Take our developer survey and speak your mind about job roles. You can also swap ideas and stories about job roles in the discussion forums. Is your work experience different from the norm? Are there regional differences you want to point out? What's your job title and role, and how has it evolved? Thanks for your input!
Take the survey: http://www.ahref.com/talk/surveys/199807/0705survey.html
Join the discussion: http://www.ahref.com/talk/view_thread.html?thread_id=24
Jennifer Fleming is an Anchor producer and the author of the upcoming book Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience (O'Reilly, 1998). She runs Square Circle Solutions, a Boston-based web firm specializing in user experience consulting and idea generation.
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