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I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

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Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#41

Post by jokethrowaway »

bilekas wrote: post #26
krm01 wrote: post #17

I've been running a design agency for over a decade and have worked on many redesigns (not involved btw with OP). One common mistake I notice among designers, and something I always emphasize to my team, is the importance of designing for the business, not just for aesthetics. Design is not merely a visual exercise; it's a catalyst for business growth. I can cite numerous instances where simple or even major redesign…

> Spending $100,000 and making two minor changes that triple your revenue is an absolute bargain. This is a qualified statement that really doesn't add up in my head. No minor change is going to triple your revenue, no matter what ui UX designer says.

That can happen, it's just that it's mostly a game of luck more than skills.

I've seen redesign fail spectacularly and deliver incredible results - and they were done by the same people.

Sometimes following the best practices makes things 10 times worse.

Even when you throw AB testing and pretend you are following the data, the sample size changes so much you can't be sure off anything. I've seen A/B tested changes winning in the benchmarks perform terribly in the long run.

So would you have the same chance to hit the needed changes to triple your revenue by hiring a developer for 20$ per hour on freelancer? Absolutely, yes.

I'm not spending a penny on agencies, let the big companies do that

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#42

Post by jokethrowaway »

demarq wrote: post #34

People focus about the cost, but I would GLADLY pay 46k if it ups revenue by 60% plus. The added income over the years makes this a drop in the ocean to be honest. The experience he had while paying the 46k is the bad bit, and I honestly would have called it quits a lot earlier than he did.

Sure, but it's not a guarantee either way.

You probably had the same chance with a cheap contractor.

The website looks a bit more professional and trustworthy. That could have been achieved by someone skilled for much cheaper.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#43

Post by iancmceachern »

chinchilla2020 wrote: post #7

> I’m not trying to bash the agency here, so I’ll just call them DesignAgency. They’re based in the US, and I found them through a Hacker News monthly freelancer thread. First mistake is hiring people off hackernews. The amount of psuedoprofound pontification on this site is mindblowing. > In my first meeting with DesignAgency’s team, I asked how long they expected my project to take. “How long is a piece of string?”…

The string comment shows they have contempt for the client right from the git.

You need to work with people that respect you, your business, your work.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#44

Post by paulcole »

jjgreen wrote: post #28
paulcole wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me paraphrasing a bit, I think we can easily win the 2024 Accidental HN Slogan Contest with, "Mindblowing Amounts of Psuedoprofound Pontification.

Not enough alliteration: "A profusion of psuedoprofound pontification"?

Exhibit A

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#45

Post by dave333 »

IMHO old school boiler plate design is a feature. Usability over all the various platforms and basic SEO are important, but easy to achieve with the great tools now available for site analysis. $46k is about two, maybe three orders of magnitude more than I would consider spending on a 3 page website.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#46

Post by Suppafly »

bilekas wrote: post #26
krm01 wrote: post #17

I've been running a design agency for over a decade and have worked on many redesigns (not involved btw with OP). One common mistake I notice among designers, and something I always emphasize to my team, is the importance of designing for the business, not just for aesthetics. Design is not merely a visual exercise; it's a catalyst for business growth. I can cite numerous instances where simple or even major redesign…

> Spending $100,000 and making two minor changes that triple your revenue is an absolute bargain. This is a qualified statement that really doesn't add up in my head. No minor change is going to triple your revenue, no matter what ui UX designer says.

There are tons of small things you can do to double or triple your revenue, usually by decreasing how much you spend in the first place, but also things like offering deals for people who buy right away without abandoning their carts or removing roadblocks from the purchasing process.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#47

Post by Waterluvian »

dzink wrote: post #25

Also a bootstrapped founder. I couple of years ago I wanted to build an app for my site and posted the job to a freelance marketplace. I got abundant calls and picked a company that seemed to have an eye for design and a lot of good looking examples in their portfolio. They offered to do a redesign and a bunch of other work I refused - I knew what functionality I wanted and needed just a developer for a few weeks. Th…

I’m reminded of a podcast I recently heard that looked into the whole fraudulent industry in India where they just make up colleges sell people on them.

The front was probably a fraud to begin with and there was never a plan to do anything other than add you to a list of potential marks.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#48

Post by 0x008 »

Delumine wrote: post #21

The website is nice, but not $46k nice, the author needed to grow a spine. Just because you're a small client, doesn't mean you're not a client at all. This isn't charity work, but a paid service. It's disrespectful to not only be placed on the backburner, but to be delayed months, and then have your budget inflated. Who knows how many lost potential conversions he missed out on because potential clients were turned…

It is totally fine to be placed on the backburner -- but then you should get backburner hourly rates and not pay the same as the big clients.

Re: I Regret My $46k Website Redesign (2022)

#50

Post by presidentender »

Delumine wrote: post #21

The website is nice, but not $46k nice, the author needed to grow a spine. Just because you're a small client, doesn't mean you're not a client at all. This isn't charity work, but a paid service. It's disrespectful to not only be placed on the backburner, but to be delayed months, and then have your budget inflated. Who knows how many lost potential conversions he missed out on because potential clients were turned…

"the author needed to grow a spine" cuts to my soul.

I was the technical cofounder of a startup. We spent a similar amount of money on a similar agency, on advisors to tell our designer he was doing a good job, and on content writers who were friends of my business founder. I was gentle in my contrary feedback.

On the engineering side, I let an early hire (a friend of mine) refactor our codebase to future-proof it against our inevitable scale. When I tried to call a meeting and redirect, another senior engineer expressed that he "liked" the new domain-driven approach, and that was that. I should have said "no."

Ultimately we shut down; my cofounder left the company and I didn't do anything that fixed it. The business didn't make sense in retrospect. I still feel a lot of guilt for lighting the VC money on fire.

The author should have grown a spine. I should grow a spine.

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