Happy first day of March, everyone!
To start things off, today is the first day of National Nutrition Month
(with this year's theme being "Savor the Flavor of Eating Right"), so
in the weeks of March I will share some—yes,
you got it—nutritious
facts and figures to be aware of. This week (2/29 - 3/6) just happens to be World Salt Awareness Week,
with a theme of “Hidden Salt”.
Also, March of Dimes will kick off March
for Babies on Tuesday, March 8th, which will
begin its fundraising effort to support premature babies and fund research to
help prevent premature birth. I will also provide updates and information
throughout this month.
Now, back to my website research…
I am currently in the process of choosing a web designer
for Marvin Medisoft’s website update
and redesign. Awhile back, Ms. Vaidya gave me a list of sites filled with
freelancers and potential designers. I eventually narrowed down the sites to
Fiverr and Upwork. (The Vaidyas are familiar with both already, which is a
plus.)
If you are not familiar with Fiverr or Upwork, the former
includes sellers that create “gigs”,
or packages, for their particular services, ranging from graphic design and
marketing strategy to sound effects and jingles. Upwork is a site in which
freelancers-for-hire describe their specialties and qualifications and offer their
services (there are no packages).
Both sites have many filtering options but are overwhelming
all the same. Aside from searching for relevant types of web design, I have
looked extensively at reviews, ratings, job history, past projects, cost rates,
and even response time and native language. There are still so many
candidates willing to do the work but only one spot for the job! Is it wrong
for me to compare myself to a college admissions officer right now?
Additionally, I had to compile my notes and comments in an
organized way throughout the process. Since I prefer handwritten notes, my poor
little spiral-bound was soon filled with comparison charts, stars, arrows,
highlighter marks, and chicken scratch.
After quite a few elimination rounds, I ended up with three
designers from Fiverr and five from Upwork. While there are still many to
choose from, I wrote a proposal to introduce our website redesign project in
order to contact the freelancers and see if they are interested and available.
I contacted the Fiverr designers first. They all replied
less than a day later! They posed questions about content, page count, HTML vs.
PSD, RSS feeds, etc. Sometimes, it was a bit frustrating when we couldn’t
fully understand each other, or when they wouldn’t
answer my questions well. But so far, they have all been very polite and
patient.
That is where I currently stand in deciding who to hire for
Marvin Medisoft’s website
redesign. I will definitely elaborate on the process as it progresses further.
These past four weeks have flown by—I
can’t believe we’re
almost halfway through our research!
If you are taking Spring Break next week, hope you have a
relaxing one!
Mia
Lu
Mia, I can't believe you get to help choose the web designer! Sounds like there are a lot of qualified candidates..good luck in your decision process.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vanessa!
DeleteNice work, Mia! What a great idea to to use your blog to publicize upcoming events!
ReplyDeleteWhen you speak with the web designers, are you able to negotiate work/related costs? Without a design background, that would be challenging!
I'm glad to hear that you've gained a new appreciation for admissions officers as a result of this experience! ;)
The price point depends on the individual seller. For example, one woman told us upfront how much her work would cost us, while another freelancer asked what our budget was so he could determine if that would work for all of us. So in the latter case, we definitely have negotiating power, but it is ultimately up to the designer.
DeleteI'm really glad I had the opportunity to be included in the hiring process.
Mia, it's awesome that you got to play an active role in the hiring process! What made candidates stick out to you, and has that caused you to reevaluate your application process?
ReplyDeleteI mainly looked at customer reviews (most were 4.8-5 out of 5) and positive ratings (I would simply skip over people with <95% positive ratings). After that, I honed in on special skills of the remaining freelancers.
DeleteI didn't necessarily need to reevaluate my options, since I took care to look into the advanced filters before narrowing down the search.
Wow Mia, cool stuff! How much freedom do you have in the hiring process? Is there a lot of oversight from your managers?
ReplyDeleteHey, Luke, I have written out my thoughts on who to hire and I'm the main correspondent. I can definitely share my insight whenever I feel the need to. The "oversight" is more for advice, or requests to ask the designers certain questions, but other than that, I just have to follow up whenever I receive more information in a conversation.
DeleteHaving all that power to choose a web designer sounds really fun, but also full of responsibility. Is there a lot of pressure or expectation from you to choose this designer? Hope you're having a good time!
ReplyDeleteGreat question!
ReplyDeleteThis project definitely makes my research seem all the more important. I can suggest certain designers, but I do not have the power to hire until I consult with Ms. Vaidya. With that, I don't want to disappoint because it IS such a responsible task, but the expectation is not anything I can't handle (I guess I'm just used to all the pressure I felt to get good grades at BASIS).