web design & development explained

One way or another you will get to know what e-commerce website is, and believe me – this won’t be an easy task to cope with. Especially if it comes to designing one. Well, if you struggle to get something other than standard 3-column osCommerce layout, then this is the article for you.

#1: Be creative.
There is nothing worse than taking another e-cart solution and basically changing the template colors and logos and selling it to the client for the full project value, although there are people who do this and can keep their head up in the sky. This is the reason why creative and honest web designers are not taking any osCommerce projects on-board, as they are killing all your ideas. Of course you can try to fight and style up the table-based osCommerce layout, spend tons of hours fixing bugs and struggling to make it look properly in every browser, and in the end be proud of yourself, but is that the point?

Instead I would like you to focus on the design itself. Choose a platform that is scalable and uses div tags instead of tables (pretty much anything other than osCommerce uses divs) and will allow you to reach the unknown. Magento and PrestaShop are made for exceptional designs and you can do many different things with them. Starting with optimizing the basic template and jazzing it up a bit, through header modifications and CSS re-writing up to a complete re-design of the main layout and full customization. Be yourself, be confident, be creative! And push forward for yourself, not for anybody else.

#2: Predict the limitations of the code.
Recently I read an article on Six Revisions about “why designers should learn how to code” and I have to say that coding is a very important part of every project and if you know how to code not only in HTML but also using PHP or RubyOnRails you are able to determine the ups and downs of your design implementation before it will start, allowing you to correct the mistakes in time. Remember that design is an important part of every e-commerce system, but if it doesn’t work it’s worthless.

#3: No e-commerce platform is perfect.
Keep in mind that sometimes you will have to re-code certain parts of the platform you are using to meet the design requirements. Even the most scalable e-cart isn’t free of bugs and our duty is to fix them. If you encounter any problems try to look for solutions on forums and support groups, but look for clues in the code and try to figure it out yourself too as this bring more knowledge to your inventory of abilities. Most of the time that annoying bug on in the code might be something very tiny and easy to miss by looking from a bigger perspective, so focus and try to solve the puzzle. The feeling after achieving your goal is ten thousand times better than after completing the project using somebody else’s solution, not to mention that you are constant;y learning and developing yourself.

#4: Equip yourself with knowledge.
Browse books, blogs, wikipedia, manuals and any other useful resources on the web, most of which are free of charge and contain loads of stuff. Books about CSS, design and e-commerce manuals are second to none in terms of helping to develop the project. If you don’t have a clue than ask, maybe there is a person in the office that has dealt with the platform before and might know something about your issue, maybe there is somebody that knows CSS better than you and has the solution at hand? A little bit of research haven’t hurt anyone yet!

#5: Free your mind.
Don’t try focusing on boundaries of the project. Try to put some extra effort in what you do and you will have a good chance of gaining a good client, who will appreciate the extra work you’ve done for him by letting you do some more jobs for him. Assume nothing and question everything. Browse online galleries for ideas and try to incorporate them into a structure. If someone doesn’t like what you do, change the concept. Give it few days off and get back to it fresh and soaking with new ideas. Free your mind!

I hope this has been helpful to you, as we all get stuck sometimes and try to just “do our job”, but like the web standards are changing we have to surprise our clients and employers with a burst of creativity. By devoting yourself to a project you are gaining many strengths. Use them wisely in the future as they don’t come cheaply. That’s almost a guarantee of success.

Bookmark it!