Luca Nappini

Il Web Designer è l'Online Structural Architect, è colui che sa progettare e sviluppare siti web con caratteristiche professionali, grazie all'uso dei markup languages (HTML e CSS), dei linuaggi di front-end web programming (javascript e jquery) e dei principi di user experience design (UX design).

In generale il lavoro di un Web Designer (oggi chiamato anche Digital Media Specialist) serve a garantire che i siti realizzati siano:

• adapted to the needs and objectives of the client
• simple to manage
• well structured from an SEO point of view
• of good visual impact e captivating from a graphic point of view
• suitable for the target audience
• simple to navigate
• easily accessible using different browsers and devices
• compatible with the needs of visitors
• complete in the functionalities made available

Usually the Web Designer it is up to the task of guiding clients towards the most suitable online structure for them e sceglie le tecnologie digitali più adeguate alla realizzazione del progetto.

The web designer is also the responsible for the final quality of a site, ad es. negli aspetti di funzionamento tecnico, di comunicazione in esso presente, di organizzazione dei suoi contenuti, negli aspetti grafici, di coinvolgimento degli utenti che visitano il sito (user experience), di ottimizzazione SEO.

Expertise

In generale, un Web designer deve conoscere le caratteristiche tipiche delle varie tipologie di siti presenti in rete (siti aziendali, istituzionali, redazionali, eCommerce, landingpage, blog, portali, marketplace, piattaforme social ecc.) ed he has multidisciplinary skills nei vari aspetti relativi alla comunicazione digitale: linguaggi di markup, linguaggi di programmazione web, UX, UI, SEO, web copywriting, visual design ecc.

Inoltre, un buon web designer deve saper coniugare nel progetto gli apsetti di design, navigazione e comunicazione: per questo deve possedere le competenze tipiche di uno UX Designer (il responsabile della struttura di un sito), di uno UI Designer (il responsabile della grafica di un sito) e di un Frontend developer (colui che sviluppa il codice tecnico di un sito).

The work of the Web designer

Negli ultimi 20 anni il ruolo dei siti web è cambiato molto: da semplici strutture che servivano a presentare un'attività online, sono diventati strutture sempre più complesse che offrono servizi intreattivi agli utenti del web e offrono, ai proprietari del sito, funzionalità di sviluppo business e di gestione digitale. In poco tempo i siti web da semplici vetrine online sono diventati strumenti di lavoro, di sviluppo e di marketing, spesso strategici per il successo di molte tipologie di attività (eCommerce, marketplace, strutture turistiche, portali istituzionali, attività professionali ecc.).

The creation of a website is not just a question of graphic attractiveness: behind the creation of a site there is mainly a technical / structural work which includes many aspects to deal with, such as the choice of the most suitable languages ​​for the development of the site, the creation of the structure, the reserved areas, the creation of interactive features, the optimization for search engines, the search for the right target / target market, the creation of visual and textual content, the organization of content within the site, etc. A mix of design, graphics, technical and communicative aspects that require the specific technical, organizational and creative skills possessed by those who trained in the field of Web Design.

The Web Designer makes in the online world a structural work which is very similar to what an architect does in the offline world: eg. in the physical world to have adequate building structures from a technical, aesthetic and functional point of view, a architect who designs buildings from scratch or renovates them in such a way as to make them safe, appreciable from an aesthetic point of view and functional for the purpose for which they are built.

Likewise, online structures have their own architect, the Web Designer, which designs corporate sites, eCommerce, Marketplace, Blogs, editorial sites, etc., so that they have technical, aesthetic and functional characteristics that meet the purposes for which a site is published on the web.

Today websites have become digital structures that present many in many respects similarities with building structures present in the physical world: eg. a company site plays a functional and representative role online similar to that played offline by the physical headquarters of a company, an eCommerce site is comparable to a physical store, a Marketplace to a Shopping Center, an editorial site to the editorial office of a newspaper, a web portal with its specific areas plays a role similar to that of a building with its dedicated spaces etc.

In the physical world, building structures are not all the same: there are new, functional and well-designed structures, but also anonymous, poorly designed or even dilapidated structures. Even online we find the same situation: there are modern, functional and well-designed sites, but also anonymous sites, poorly designed or even inadequate to achieve the purposes they would like to pursue.

The role of the Web Designer is to create web structures that, in addition to having an attractive aesthetic, have all those technical and functional characteristics that make a site the main corporate digital communication tool, and a work tool capable of making a more efficient and competitive activity.

How a Web Designer works

To organize all the design and development work on a site, the Web designer works in various stages:

1. Consulting: the phase of listening to the client's needs and his orientation towards the online structure most suited to his needs;
2. Research: the search for the target the site will be aimed at and the best solutions to make it happen;
3. Business plan: reserved for online activities such as eg. eCommerce sites, online booking sites or marketplaces, is the phase of organization of the digital business that a company intends to undertake online, useful for evaluating the feasibility of the project and the necessary skills / finances
4. Design: the phase in which the architecture of the site is defined and everything that the project must contain, such as the type of structure to be built, its visual design, the type of contents and their organization, the type of functionality to be developed, etc.
5. Development: it is the actual construction phase of the site in which the general structure of the site and the individual web pages are created;
6. Test and publication: the phase in which the general functioning of the site is tested on the various browsers and devices before its online publication;
7. Update: the technical, graphic and functional updating phase to which each site is periodically subjected after its publication;

A seconda della complessità del progetto, il Web Designer può o meno collaborare con sviluppatori web, programmatori, UX designer o si coordina con Grafici, Copywriters, Videomakers e altri professionisti del settore per la realizzazione dei contenuti da inserire nel sito, in modo simile a quello che fa un architetto quando si rivolge a falegnami, piastrellisti, elettricisti o idraulici per completare i lavori edili.

Di solito, a progetto concluso, il Web Designer si occupa anche degli periodic updates necessary for the structure che ha creato, del posizionamento del sito web sui motori di ricerca (SEO) e, ove necessario, collabora con i responsabili del marketing online.

Perchè rivolgersi ad un Web Designer?

The sites that are published online do not all get the same results: just think that 95% of the sites published on the web (dati Google) ottiene visite insignificanti e finisce ai margini del web, perchè presenta contenuti di scarsa qualità, non è ben visibile sui motori di ricerca ed ha una scarsa attrattiva grafica, con il risultato che i pochi utenti che navigano il sito, escono insoddisfatti dopo soli pochi secondi di navigazione. Siti con tali problematiche, di solito, sono figli di una realizzazone più o meno improvvista e non riescono a supportare in modo adeguato l'attività aziendale per cui sono stati realizzati, ma piùttosto finiscono per rappresentare un punto debole che fa perdere all'azienda efficienza e competitività.

All the work of the Web Designer serves to guarantee the final quality of a website e far sì che la struttura finale pubblicata online, rientri in quel 5% di siti who knows how to conquer a prominent place online, presenting an activity in an optimal way and representing an adequate digital means for the company to increase its efficiency and competitiveness over the months and years to come. In particular, the work of a Web designer serves to ensure the professional success of a web structure, so that the site has a good design, ease of navigation, good presence on search engines, communication and functionality suitable for the target audience and to the customer's needs. Basically, a site created, not only to give the company a vague online presence, but rather designed to achieve specific digital goals, such as:

• receive a high number of visits
• present optimally a company and its services / products
• to leave the site satisfied users of the contents found in it
• be able to pursue the best business purpose of the client
• store and return data that improve the management and development of the company