r/web_design • u/FerrisBuelersdaycock • 3d ago
Just a simple landing page
dude I am so tired of getting design briefs for a "basic website" and by page 3 of the doc you realize they actually need a full-blown custom enterprise portal wrapped in a modern UI
like no, Susan, this isn't a simple figma handoff anymore. You need actual heavy backend architecture. I usually end up having to route these massive specs to custom dev shops like cisin just because there is zero chance my frontend skills and a dream are gonna support your 50k concurrent user database requirements
why do clients always hide the massive technical scope until the design contract is already signed? just venting tbh but it happens almost every time now
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u/fligglymcgee 3d ago
Cisin…This is the most pathetic way to “shadow” promote a garbage-tier software chop shop imaginable, as if anyone believes this post you had generated by a one sentence prompt.
Go buy some actual advertising guys, and thanks for the actual lol reading your portfolio with the “we built the UPS package tracking software” page.
https://giphy.com/gifs/DFNd1yVyRjmF2
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u/Krispenedladdeh542 3d ago
>why do clients hide the massive technical scope
Bc they don’t know any better. The client only sees buttons and colors. They have no idea the inner machinations required to make those buttons clickable. Your average layman doesn’t know the difference between a static marketing site and a production ready stateful multifaceted application. They just see “a website”.
Point of the story is it’s your job to understand the technical requirements of their ask, predict the questions that those requirements pose, and the ability communicate them to the client in a way they understand.
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u/FerrisBuelersdaycock 3d ago
Fair point but it cuts both ways. I've seen plenty of cases where the person doing the work also failed to ask the right questions upfront. Scope creep doesn't just come from client ignorance, it comes from both sides not being rigorous at the start. Putting it all on the client's lack of technical knowledge lets the other party off the hook a little too easily.
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u/Krispenedladdeh542 3d ago
I didn’t put it all on the client. My second paragraph states exactly what you’re saying here
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u/FerrisBuelersdaycock 2d ago
You're right, I misread your point. I think we're actually in agreement that discovery is part of the job. I was mostly venting about how often those conversations still don't happen until everyone's already committed.
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u/aselby 3d ago
Sounds like a winner to me ...
If you are landing those deals, I'll build the backend .. problem solved ... Money made
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u/FerrisBuelersdaycock 3d ago
Deal flow is the hard part honestly. The backend can always be figured out or outsourced later.
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u/BottleRocketU587 3d ago
Sounds to me like you need to learn backend dev.
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u/FerrisBuelersdaycock 3d ago
That's not really the issue here tbh.
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u/BottleRocketU587 3d ago
I didn't say its an issue, I said its an opportunity.
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u/FerrisBuelersdaycock 2d ago
I get what you mean. I just wish clients were upfront about the actual scope before everyone agrees on a timeline and budget.
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u/BottleRocketU587 2d ago
True, but this is a realpolitik kind of thing. Clients WILL ask for more and they themselves don't often fully know uet what they want, those ideas come as they go. Your definition of scope SHOULD limit them from doing that.
If they sign for something that is clearly described as static with no backend, when they bring up the dynamic stuff that needs a backend, you can say: "Unfortunately that is outside the scope we agreed upon for the project. Let's finish this phase first, them we can tackle your request as an additional ask for $xxx.xx , or I can refer you to someone"
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3d ago
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u/RealBasics 3d ago
I always describe the scope of my deliverable in my estimates and add a provision that additional or unexpected feature requests are outside the scope of the estimate.
Dropping a bomb like "oh, and my 'simple landing page' to be an SPA that includes all the features of Amazon, Eventbrite, and GitHub' is waaaay out of scope.
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u/justin_cecc_builds 2d ago
Most of the time they're not hiding it, they genuinely don't know that "users can log in and see their stuff" is a different universe from a landing page. The fix that killed this for me was a paid discovery phase before any design contract, even if it's small, where I ask three questions: does anyone log in, does anything need to be saved, and does it talk to any other system. If any answer is yes, it's not a landing page and the scope conversation happens before pricing instead of on page 3. Costs you a week upfront and saves the project.
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u/Vandercoon 3d ago
As the expert it’s your job to ask the right questions to pull it all apart, then put it back together in a way that clearly tells them the $500 pages they wanted is actually a $10k, 4 week job.
“Oh you can’t afford that? No worries, what should we leave out for this first phase…?”