There are plenty of articles around at the moment suggesting that the time of the web designer may well be coming to an end. With an ever-increasing plethora of online services that promise to provide you with a quality website without ever needing to touch a line of code—and at more and more ridiculous prices—you might want to ask me the following question:
“Am I worried about my job as a Freelance Web Designer?”
No, not at all.
Why aren’t you worried about the “designocalypse”?
There are plenty more legitimate things to worry about on a daily basis—nuclear war, Zika virus, cancer, spiders to name a few—but an automated design tool doesn’t come anywhere near making my list of fears and anxieties.
The web design process is, first and foremost, a relationship—a relationship between the client and the designer.
You can’t meet with these tools. You can’t discuss your requirements with them or what you’d like to get out of the process. They can’t laugh at your dodgy jokes or offer you a cup of steaming hot green tea.
All they can do is provide you with a cookie-cutter website that looks the same as every other site coming off the factory line.
Robots can’t communicate (yet)
Human communication is a powerful tool—arguably the most powerful tool we’ve ever had. A tool without which we wouldn’t have hunted more complex prey or gracefully ascended to the top of the food chain.
So why, then, are business owners seemingly abandoning communication? To save money? Because it’s faster? I really have no idea. It seems completely bonkers to me.
These online creators won’t know that you want to increase the conversion rates of call-to-action buttons on your homepage. They won’t know that you want to lower your bounce rate or increase engagement.
They’re just tools. They don’t understand your needs.
Working together, we can create a brief of your requirements. We’ll go through it step by step and narrow down exactly what it is you wish to achieve—whether that’s:
- Increasing traffic
- Ranking higher on Google
- Lowering your bounce rate
- Generating more leads
As a freelance web designer, I’ll help you translate your goals into real results—and a better return on investment. That means a more successful website. And ultimately, a more successful business.
What about the future?
I’m not really sure what the future holds. I understand these tools are becoming increasingly complex. But as long as we don’t invent an artificial intelligence that can rival or surpass our ability to think creatively, I can confidently say: they won’t replace what I do.
If the day ever comes when tools do replace us designers, I won’t go down without a fight—and I’ll go down proud.
Proud that I worked hard for every client.
Proud that I delivered quality, bespoke web designs that achieved results.
And really, that’s all I can ask of myself.