¶ Mark Boulton has written a thoughtful post on the pros and cons of having a professional body for web design. I commented in detail there, but I wanted to expand my thoughts on the subject.
Perhaps the question to ask is: What can a professional body do for me as a web designer? Professional organisations provide four functions:
- Promotion and advancement of best practice
- Certification and accreditation of members
- Increased public recognition & understanding of the industry, and encouragement of new talent
- Continued professional development of members
Of those four functions, the only one happening to any significant degree is the first. Best practices and novel techniques are being published in blogs, discussed on mailing lists and spoken about in conferences all the time. By its very nature, however, this is a disparate grassroots effort, and it could reasonably be argued that knowledge of best practice does not reach as many people in the industry as it should.
Certification and accreditation is not happening at all at the moment. As a web designer, one can become a member of organisations such as the Chartered Society of Designers, but there is nothing specific to web design.
Public understanding and encouragement of new talent happens very little from within the industry. We are forever complaining about ‘stupid’ clients and my experience of recruiting fresh graduates shows a disconnect between the expectations of employers and new entrants into the field. It is recognised that we are struggling to attract enough women into the industry – but who do we turn to in order redress that balance? At the moment it is down to women’s groups and conscientious individuals.
Continued professional development is practically non-existant. What is the career path of a web designer? The options for web designers advancing their careers are becoming more evident, but there is little information available to anyone entering the field.
So it’s clear that there is a need for professional bodies for web designers, or at the very least a series of large gaps that need filling. And I say ‘bodies’ plural for a reason. Professional bodies tend to be national in scope, in order that they can focus on specific needs of their members. Despite the Web being an international medium, with collaboration rife between nationalities, the national model would still be more effective in achieving the stated goals.
Certification and Accreditation
The notion of being a certified web designer causes consternation among many, but such practice is common in other industries and serves a high purpose. Quoting from the Charted Society of Designers:
Membership of CSD is proof that a designer operates to the highest possible professional standards having satisfied the Society of their qualification and ability to practice. The affix MCSD and FCSD is therefore highly valued amongst designers and relied upon by members of the business community and public to identify those who practice professionally and operate to a strict Code of Conduct.
Similarly from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE):
Chartered Chemical Engineer status and Corporate membership of IChemE is a gold standard demonstrating professional competence and commitment within chemical engineering. As a Chartered engineer, you gain the designation CEng MIChemE – an internationally recognised qualification.
This is exactly what proponents of an accreditation scheme desire. A certified web designer would have to demonstrate his or her professional competence and commitment as a web designer.
But what is a web designer? I consider myself a web designer, yet I do very little actual visual or graphic design. My job entails information architecture and client-side code (HTML and CSS). It’s widely acknowledged that the modern web designer is often a jack-of-all-trades, whose job could span many disciplines: from programming through client-side markup, to usability expertise and graphic design. Yet some people in the industry, proudly describing themselves as web designers, specialise in just one of those roles. So how can certification cater for this wide range of people?
The answer lies elsewhere in an industry that has already been through this process. As someone old enough to have graduated when Netscape 1 was still in beta, I have a degree in Chemical Engineering. Before discovering my true calling, I went on to become a Chartered Chemical Engineer, and with that a Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, meaning I could have CEng MIChemE after my name – as many engineers do on their business cards. On the subject of becoming chartered, the IChemE says this:
Becoming a Chartered Chemical Engineer is about having a good academic education coupled with initial professional experience at the right level of responsibility.
Therefore to become a chartered engineer, one must have the training and – most importantly – the experience. This is something clients of engineering firms recognise, appreciate, and expect of a professional engineer. Hence becoming chartered is an important step in the career of an engineer and it was certainly a proud moment for me.
Chemical engineering has a far greater breadth of disciplines that does web design. Chemical engineers work in oil refineries, on tankers, in chocolate factories and breweries, in pharmaceutical labs, in universities and in offices. Specialities vary from operating huge distillation columns to analysing safety procedures, from design piping networks to developing vaccine production, from improving toothpaste production to quantified risk assessments of oil rigs, and academic research into catalytic converters. The scope is huge, and yet all of these people can become Members of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.
How? It boils down to education and experience. For engineers, education is easy to measure – a qualified degree is sufficient. Experience is also easy to quantify – the applicant must have a given number of years. Experience must also be relevant, and in the case of the IChemE, varied. Of the five years’ experience required, at least 6 months must be spent in each of safety, design and operations. An applicant’s experience is assessed by peer review, an process similar to a job interview.
I believe an accreditation system can be created for web designers which is meaningful and helpful to employers, clients and designers alike. I also believe that experience is the key to assessing certification. A minimum period of experience should be required – perhaps 4 years or 3 years plus a relevant degree – and that experience should be spread across more than one discipline, for example visual design, software development, client-side code, information architecture, copywriting, usability, accessibility, or SEO. As with the IChemE, competency and relevancy of the experience should be determined in an interview with an already qualified member. Certification requirements should be demanding but flexible.
Institute of Web Designers
Certification or no certification, something like this is needed. If we are to come out of the bedroom and into the boardroom, we need an organisation to promote the industry; to help advance best practice; and to ensure continued professional development of its members. To take off it would require backing (not necessarily financial) from both grassroots and from companies big and small. I’m not sure how we could get the ball rolling, but I’d love to hear your ideas), not just about certification but all the other aspects of belonging to a professional body of web designers.
Comments
1
The trouble with accreditation based on academic degrees is that schools that teach what standardistas consider best practices are still few and far between. And as best practices are likely to evolve at the same relatively rapid pace as the technology itself, schools have thus far shown themselves to be incapable of keeping up. That could change, of course, but for now, the status quo is what it is. An educational requirement would also disclude a great many self-starters who lack a proper degree but nevertheless do work of comparable or greater quality than their formally educated colleagues.
This is why I agree with you that experience is the true test, though gauging and quantifying it beyond x number of years could prove difficult. After all, aside from things like the W3C code validators, there are few systems of checks and balances in place, and approaches to coding techniques, graphic design, and most other elements of our profession are widely varied and subjective.
So I’ll watch with curiosity as this idea spreads and different perspectives come to it. As for me, I’m still unsure we need something like this. The AIGA, for example, provides good resources for the graphic design community, but does little (if any) outreach work, and I’m not sure the graphic design profession is hurt by that. It seems to me that as the world at large becomes more web savvy, the profession of web design is now more visible than its print counterpart (which is represented by AIGA). Whether or not people recognize the true value of a qualified web designer is, I suppose, another question.
2
I would actually have to disagree with the idea that schools should teach the most current curricula. I don’t think that ever happens in any field. For me, the purpose of an Undergraduate Degree is to develop basic skills in learning rather than to plan in 4 years to graduate as a master of a discipline. That’s what they have Master’s degrees for.
What is important about education is not that one graduates ready to practice. What is important about education, particularly at an undergraduate level, is developing the ability to actively pursue new skills, acquiring knowledge and experiencing the scope of the area of practice.
I believe that the problem here is the distinction between web design as a profession and web development as a trade. Most of the schools that claim to teach web design are 1-year or 2-year certification programs that teach basic use of tools and introductory syntax of languages – or web design as trade. These skills, while important, do not produce a senior web design professional.
Understanding how to use construction tools does not make one a general contractor. Understanding how to use web development tools, even if you use them to produce valid code, does not make one a web designer.
I agree that the diverse practices of information architect, usability expert, graphic designer, client-side code developer, copy writer, accessibility expert and more all co-operate to produce a seasoned web development professional. A course of academic study followed by several years of experience in many areas of practice as the path to professionalism.
3
“Developing basic skills” is great, as long as those skills are still relevant. But the web design skills taught in most Universities aren’t anywhere near relevant – table-based layouts, FONT tags, spacer GIFs, Java, old-school Javascript, etc.
And yet, in my experience, it’s those who are self-taught that tend to be more passionate about learning and keeping up with the industry.
This is, to me, the essence of the problem. Well said.
4
This could be very easily misconstrued as “you need to have been schooled in Web design.” If that’s the case, I’m screwed. As are lots of experienced folks. ;0)
But I think I get the point.
Still, I’ve got a hard time believing we need an official professional body, let alone being able to figure out how to do it. I’ve tossed around the idea of a peer-moderated professional network but I’m not sure that’s right either.
In any case, I’m glad we’re talking about it. If nothing else I’d like to see more resources targeting towards clients and people new to the industry. Right now it’s feeling really clique-ish and that leaves clients and lots of talented n00bs on the outs.
5
Keith wrote:
Me included. I tried to play down the importance of schooling when it comes to getting accreditation as a web designer. It can’t count for nothing, but it shouldn’t replace experience. And I totally agree with Jeff when says “it’s those who are self-taught that tend to be more passionate about learning and keeping up with the industry”.
Rob wrote:
Quantifying would be impossible, but qualifying that experience is less so. Anyone who has been a job interviewer has had to do this. Getting someone to talk about their experience and their work is a pretty good way of understanding if an applicant follows best practices and is committed to the profession. The important thing is to match the interviewer to the applicant.
But certification is only one of four aspects that a professional body can provide.
6
I agree with Kieth. If we are going to focus on this, it really needs to be in the form of networking, people new to the industry, and informing clients (or maybe creating industry standards for client/corporation/freelance relationships).
I disagree with the Chem example being ported over to the web industry. I think that perhaps the way to go with certification/joining is to have a basic entry level that anyone could join, and follow that with tack ones such as Usability, UI, XHTML/CSS, JavaScript, DOM, ect at various performance based levels. Professional development in our industry is practically non-existent (not that it has stopped any of us from learning anyways), and could really benefit… if nothing else than a networked skill-swap- but what for people who live in semi-isolated areas?
7
First off, thanks for the link to my post.
Not long after I wrote it, I contacted the British Accreditation Bureau out of curiosity. The BAB can provide bespoke accreditation schemes for industry bodies, and I wondered what they might say on the matter. I was advised (not surprisingly) to seek government or commercial support as the consultation costs for an Industry Specific Standard alone would be prohibitive for a grassroots community-based industry like ours.
I’m not sure what interest government or business might have in helping establish a professional body for Web designers; a lot of persuasion would be required to get them listening and convinced of any benefits that might accrue.
Still, the standards-based Web design and development community is filled with passionate people whose energy, with the backing of their peers, can carry this idea to fruition.
8
Great article. I would love to see this come to fruition.
I do, however, disagree on at least one point. You said:
Despite the Web being an international medium, with collaboration rife between nationalities, the national model would still be more effective in achieving the stated goals.
Presumably, you were referring to goal 3 here, but I think that an international body would better support goals 1, 2, and 4.
Goal 1: promote and advance best practice. This nearly has to happen on an international level. Due to the “international medium” that is the Web, differing best practices really make little to no sense. In fact, this is one of the very things our industry currently struggles with, and also probably one of the things that undermines “professionals” the most.
Goal 2: certify members. It seems to me that certification and accreditation could happen equally well on an international level.
Goal 4: continued member development. Again, I see no reason this couldn’t be as easily done on an international level as a national one.
And Goal 3: increased public understanding and promotion of the industry. While this could potentially be done more easily on a national level, I think an international body directing it could make it just as, if not more effective.
I hope I’m not nitpicking – certainly not trying to. This is a great idea, and I hope it happens. Thanks for your thoughts on it.
9
There are any of a number of organizations that purport to do this sort of thing now. Most people have never heard of them and lend them little credence if they have.
Most “web designers” of my acquaintance are mostly self-taught rather than academically educated in the field and , as has been stated by a previous poster, are of necessity jacks-of-all trades in scripting, layout, coding and occasionally graphics.
Any certification would need endorsements in various fields leading to the morass that plagues Microsoft certifications. Such programs are costly to run and are reflected in the price of the certifications. This has the potential to be onerous for and/or shut out many smaller designer/developers who, while they may be perfectly competent, are not so afluent as to be able to play the “certification game”.
I know it is easy to criticise without offering alternatives but I’m not sure what the alternatives would be. The fact that it is easy to find problems to criticise means that the concept needs further development.
Perhaps something more along the lines of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada or American Institute of Graphic Arts would be better than the Engineering model.
10
I’m not yet sure if I completely agree with the idea, but it’s certainly worth discussing.
I have one question that strikes me as very important: in what circumstances and by whom were the professional organisations that you quote founded? Who supported the founding, and who opposed it?
Founding a society is easy, but I wonder whether a bunch of web developers have enough clout to make it an important player in the field, and to make it reach the 90% or so clueless web developers out there.
11
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. In fact a few years ago a local group calling themselves the “Association of New Media Freelancers” tried to do this very thing. They got a reasonable distance but ultimately failed due to the personalities involved. However that doesn’t mean the concept wasn’t falid.
Most people assume that certification would involve written tests, and because our industry moves so fast, this wouldn’t be practical. However I really like the idea of peer review. In the same way that you’re able to get a sense of somebody’s experience from a job interview, you should be able to tell whether the person is experienced enough to become a certified web designer.
I think it’s interesting what Owen says about the British Accreditation Bureau and their bespoke accreditation scheme. I’m sure if you set up an organisation you could get seed sponsorship from some of the larger agencies around, and may be able to get Government funding though somebody like <a href=”http://www.skillset.org/”>SkillSet</a>.
12
Hey Rich,
I was going to contact you about this very issue a few weeks ago. I think Institute of Web Designers is the correct name too. I plan to formulate some thoughts for the first quarter next year, and would be keen to devote energy and effort to helping you out with this one – currently I don’t get much further than start small and aim big –
I think Andy Budd’s somments are interesting, the Royal Institue of Charterd Surveyors (my previous calling) certainly allow a peer review panel to judge your non-formal non-acedemic training in the field and a significant numbers of years experience, coupled with evidence of previous high quality of work is enough to get through. Academic qualifications do allow you a fast track to accreditation – these old school bodies are all pretty simialr so I imagine IChemE and ICE, and the R.I.C. have the same rules.
As a side point I would imagine these organisations got their swanky central London buildings back towards the end of the industrial revolution – so there’s still time for us.
However I do still remain a P.R.I.C (probationary member) rather than an A.R.I.C!
Darren
13
Darren – I’m really interested to hear your ideas. Let’s talk offline.
I should also highlight Owen Gregory’s thoughts on this subject. He’s compiled a list of existing organisations, as well as a wishlist (including ‘an effective name’) which is well worth a read.
14
My clients and portfolio are my professional body. I have studied graphic design, webdesign and developing. That was studying but I believe the rest is up to you. When you deliver good work you get critical acclaim. But the ultimatye goal is that you innovate too!
15
I too started life with a Chemical Engineering degree, continuing on to gain Chartered status once working in Industry. At the time I considered this to be the ‘done thing’ for a professional engineer. First you obtained the academic qualifications and then more relevant experience in a practicing environment. Looking back the primary purpose of the degree course wasn’t to provide a full toolkit of ready to use skills, but to train me to think like an Engineer.
I left engineering to retrain initially in web and latterly in more general software development. It seemed natural to me to undertake some formal training so I enrolled in the Web Applications Development certificate course with the Open University. My objective was to learn the basics of web development including web standards, client-side, server-side and server management aspects. In this regard I think the certificate course was quite successful.
However, in a rapidly changing industrial environment a formal course, such as the certificate or my previous degree, can’t possibly expect to keep up with changes in techniques and practice. Just as my degree taught me to think like an Engineer, the Certificate encouraged me to take an interest in these changes and try them out. I’ve experimented with much improved HTML/CSS, XML, Java and a host of open-source software, none of which was covered in the course content.
In my opinion, academic training is extremely valuable if seen as a way of producing basic competence. It cannot produce a skilled practitioner… post-qualification experience is needed for that. But an important point is that experience isn’t gained by just getting older, you need to pay attention, try to understand what is happening and why to make progress. This is what the sort of structured continued development that leads to a recognized award promoted by professional bodies like the Engineering Institutions encourage.
I see a frightening number of appalling websites whilst I surf and many of these are the sites of significant commercial companies. The designers or developers of these sites appear to be successfully selling total junk, but how is the punter to know? I believe that a respected professional body controlling the basic quality levels of its members through awards, combined with a solid list of references from satisfied clients is the best way. But building and promoting such a body is more than full-time work!
16
This issue has faded a little while people gather their thoughts, but I discovered another UK organisation which people might be interested in: the Design Business Association.
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