April 24, 2007

Survey Says…

In addition to two great articles, Andy Rutledge’s Contrast and Meaning and Jonathan Follett’s The Long Hallway, the latest issue of A List Apart features the inaugural Web Design Survey. The survey seeks to answer questions about our industry to help us better understand what we’re made of:

Designers, developers, project managers. Writers and editors. Information architects and usability specialists. People who make websites have been at it for more than a dozen years, yet almost nothing is known, statistically, about our profession. Who are we? Where do we live? What are our titles, our skills, our educational backgrounds? Where and with whom do we work? What do we earn? What do we value?

I took The Web Design Survey, and so should you

We plan to do these annually from here on out, so over time, this information will become more and more useful in helping us gain context for our industry. People who make websites have been at it for more than a dozen years, yet almost nothing is known, statistically, about our profession. Let’s do something to change that. If you can spare about 10 minutes or so, please take the survey and help contribute to the cause. There are even some random prize drawings! Ka-ching!

Commentary (17):

1. Dan Boland says… apr 24, 2007 | 10:57 am

Yeah, they had me at “prize giveaway.”

(Just kidding, I would have taken the survey either way.)

2. Matt Johnson says… apr 24, 2007 | 11:44 am

done. It’s obviously a good cause, well worth the 10 minutes.

3. Vladimir says… apr 24, 2007 | 2:04 pm

I took it. And not just because there is possible prizes, but because they are absolutely right. There are no defined demographs about our field, and this should prove an excellent definition of what those are.

4. Matt Johnson says… apr 24, 2007 | 3:24 pm

I didn’t even know there were prizes until I got to the end - found the banner via another blogger who didn’t really explain much about it, but it was from ALA so of course I took it.

but anyway

@Jason - they’re going to be sharing the info they receive though right? I would assume so.

5. Christine says… apr 24, 2007 | 3:32 pm

Took the survey, passed it along to everyone I work with and seeded it to the Web Development group at Newsvine. Great idea, we really do need demographics for our field.

6. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 24, 2007 | 4:04 pm

Thanks for taking the survey everyone, and thank you for passing the info along!

Matt Johnson: We will indeed be tallying up the numbers after the survey deadline, and I will likely be making some fancy graphs and charts to illustrate the breakdowns in a forthcoming ALA article about the results.

7. Matt Johnson says… apr 24, 2007 | 5:19 pm

sound great.

8. Ralph Brandi says… apr 24, 2007 | 10:37 pm

I took the survey this morning. As I was taking it, I was struck by how America-centric many of the questions were. Some of my friends on an internationalization-focused mailing list I participate in noted the same. Not that you can change this year’s survey now that it’s in motion, but just a suggestion of something to keep in mind for next year; you might want to run the questions by an international audience first.

9. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 25, 2007 | 5:35 pm

Ralph Brandi: I absolutely agree! We’ve already learned quite a lot from this survey. Well, not only from the survey answers, but on the survey itself. We’ve been compiling a list of feedback in terms of questions, tone, terminology, etc, and will surely be even closer to the mark the next time around.

10. Jermayn Parker says… apr 26, 2007 | 12:26 am

Along with everyone else, I also did the survey. Sounds like a great idea.

So do you have any goals exactly what you want to achieve out this survey? Apart from the obvious of course :)

11. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 26, 2007 | 7:07 am

Jermayn Parker: I think the biggest things we want to achieve with this survey are to 1) get info and assess what kinds of people the community is made up of 2) make the findings available so that we can all benefit from it 3) and to maintain this survey every year so that we can start to understand growth and changes in our community.

12. Taylor Schena says… apr 26, 2007 | 4:22 pm

HAPPY ARBOR DAY (tomorrow)!

Vote for Trees!

13. Kurt Cruse says… apr 27, 2007 | 8:57 am

Great survey, glad to see ALA taking the initiative. I’d be interested in seeing how everyone feels about how the rest of the world sees webdesign. The argument btw, as sites get more and more complex it’s becoming more and more apparent how important this field is versus the old common mis-perception that as software and computers become more novice user friendly ‘anyone can do it’. Obviously not along the lines of major corporations but possibly small business in less populated areas. Is the need for the pros growing or is the average user getting more savy and self-sufficient?

14. Jason Beaird says… apr 27, 2007 | 9:57 am

Took the survey.
Got the T-Shirt.

Well, not yet, but if I win one I’m definitely going with -9999px.

15. Chris Hoeppner says… may 4, 2007 | 7:07 am

Took it. Posted also in my weblog to spread the word. The world gotta know us.

16. liuhuan China says… may 5, 2007 | 12:09 pm

Cool, Great for web designers!!

17. Patrick says… may 5, 2007 | 1:54 pm

Does anyone know of a good Font reference book. Ya know, with the history of the font and all that good shtuff. I have been looking for awhile and coming up empty.