There was a lot of excitement last week about the release of 37Signals new Haystack website. It’s touted as an effective advertising tool for web design agencies and freelancers, and an easy way for a client to find a good designer. Designers with a free account can display a single screenshot, contact information and a link to their main site. Clients can browse designers based on location and price range. It’s a nice site, with a big flaw for many freelancers.
The Basics
Adding your information to Haystack is easy. You sign up, add your web page info and your email, and add a screenshot. The idea is that this screenshot is an item from your portfolio, a demonstration of your best work. I’ve seen that option used a lot, others choose to upload a screenshot of their own website. For a monthly fee you can upload several screenshots to give a wider view of your work.
You browse Haystack by viewing pretty large thumbnails (fee-payers can make this even larger) and pen-pic info in a simple and easy interface. You can target by geographical location, or by price range.
Potential clients can then just click on an icon, view a larger screenshot, and contact the designer through their website or email. It’s a good system for clients, because it’s really easy to use.
The Price Range Problem
When you create an account on Haystack as a designer you’re asked to specify your price range.
- Up to $3,000
- $3,000 – $10,000
- $10,000 – $25,000
- $25,000 – $50,000
- More than $50,000
Every client who uses the site is going to see this listed as your price range. You can only pick one, and that’s a big problem.
In the last year I’ve worked on projects worth a few hundred dollars, and others worth tens of thousands. I don’t think I’m unusual among freelance web designers either, who often work on a wide variety of projects of different scopes.
I’m not interesting in pigeonholing myself, nor do I find it easy to do. I make great websites. I don’t just make great websites in a particular price range. I don’t want to miss out on business because a client saw my price range listing on Haystack and decided that his project was outside that scope. I think Haystack penalizes the individual freelancer. It’s web design agencies who tend to focus more specifically on a typical scope of project size and cost. They’ll find it easier to convey an accurate price range.
Not All Bad, Though
Haystack is a good website, and despite my concerns I’ve signed up (choosing the $3,000 – $10,000 price range as a happy medium!). It has two things going for it in particular.
It provides people looking for web design services with a user friendly and visually attractive medium to browse potential service providers. That’s something that’s been lacking for a long time. immediate comparison unrestricted by Google searches and PR blurb from companies looking to make a sale.
It also demonstrates the maturity of web design as a service. It acts effectively as a counterpoint to the various freelance boards where web design jobs are astoundingly undervalued in terms of cost and service (as I’ve discussed before in ‘No, Websites Cost More Than Fifty Bucks!’). Here is an index that allows web designers to display their availability while demonstrating confidence that their skills warrant the prices they charge.
Haystack is good and I support it. I just wish it wouldn’t force me to artificially pigeonhole myself in terms of project scope and price range.
