| While
the role is often overlooked, underappreciated, and underpaid,
it is nonetheless vital to the ultimate marketing success
of any web project.
The company
that manages to obtain the services of a project manager
with a production background is truly blessed. Add sales
and marketing skills, and you have an individual that
is not only extremely rare, but truly worth their weight
in gold. As Luke Knowland put it in his article, "Anatomy
of a Redesign",
"Something
that often gets overlooked is the diplomatic role you
play between your designers and engineers. By facilitating
communication between the two camps, you make sure the
whole production/redesign process works and that everyone
can still be in the same room together once the project
wraps. The designer probably doesn't know C [or ASP
or JSP or SQL], and the engineer probably doesn't know
Photoshop [or ImageReady or Flash]. It's your job to
make sure they both understand, at least in general,
the other's limitations, and also that everyone is communicating
with everyone else effectively, if not happily."
( Luke Knowland, Webmonkey.com)
Responsibilities
The
Production Specialist:
•
Is responsible for front-end coding of HTML layouts
and templates that adhere to the look and feel set by
the Design Director, then typically handing them off
to engineers for back-end coding.
• Works with the design team and the Project
Manager to produce HTML layouts from initial Photoshop
mockups, cleverly working within the constraints of
HTML/XHTML to create polished, precise, and clean layouts.
• Creates HTML documents that preserve the
alignments, colors and font choices made by designers
in Photoshop.
• Cleans up HTML code generated by designers
using a WYSIWYG program.
• Has coding experience and in-depth knowledge
of HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, CSS, CGI forms, streaming
media, Telnet, and FTP.
• May be proficient in XML.
• May be experienced with database-driven
web sites - ASP, JSP, etc.
• Has professional experience and commercial,
real-world web sites in their portfolio.
• Has knowledge of advanced HTML hand coding,
JavaScript, Adobe Photoshop, ImageReady (or equivalent),and
how to optimize graphics for the web.
• Understands page formatting - layout, design,
and tables.
• Understands browser and platform compatability
issues.
• Has a good design aesthetic and eye for
color, typography and grids.
• Tweaks code and makes functional fixes.
• Works well under deadline, pays strict
attention to detail, and performs quality assurance
testing on multiple browsers and platforms before publishing.
• Is experienced with streaming media such
as RealPlayer, Quick Time, Flash, and Shockwave.
Many companies
tend to see their web team in three parts; Design, Engineering,
and Marketing. I would like to suggest a fourth - Production.
A good Production Lead can be the glue that holds a team
together, while showing much-appreciated respect to the
production team as the heavy lifters they are. The fact
that "design engineers" are neither exclusively
designers nor engineers is not a bad thing - it's a very
good thing.
Many front
end programmers that feel unappreciated will seek other
types of work, such as project management or back end
programming, leaving only those with beginner's skills
to fill crucial
development roles. In addition, these experienced
developers, having had to know so much and communicate
with so many, often become business owners - and new competition
for their former employers.
In my opinion,
Production Specialists are the true unsung heroes of the
Internet. They have the intelligence, training, and people
skills to make them the "mortar between the bricks"
of your web project. Treat them well; they can literally
make or break the success of your site - and by extension,
your company.
--
SkyVault™ Web Design provides marketing consulting,
web development, and Internet business services to small
and medium sized businesses. They have been developing
income-producing online properties since 1998. Contact
the development team at: www.skyvaultwebdesign.com.
Free Report Reveals Secrets of Their Successful Marketing
Strategy: www.daretodoubleyourincome.com.
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