Personal

I appreciate when a client hires a new developer to enhance their Web site. I appreciate when a new designer makes adjustments, further enhancing a design. Without those changes, a launched Web site will soon become stale, not adapting to market and user changes, etc.

What chaps my ass is when a designer/developer takes credit for a design that was not theirs – one that they have made adjustments to, while leaving the core design in-place. Further, when the core code lives on, with some adjustments, I also get a rash.

The case here is Muumuu Heaven, a Web site that a buddy of mine were hired to develop by an employer of ours. It was a rough time in our development lives – with difficulties in communication, slipping deadlines, design changes, underbidding, etc. A lot of the hardships were my fault, but in the end I was happy with the result. Not the best development in the world, but I applaud the designer I worked with for his color choices, images, etc.

It’s been a few years, the Web site has gone through some updates and changes – both in design elements and code, but much of my designer’s look/feel remain (meaning: the exact images he designed are still in-play; the scaffolding is the same); the code for navigating the site is the same.

On the footer of the Web site is a link for “Site Credits.” I had no supposition that Muumuu Heaven would credit the designer or myself, but I was surprised when the new designer and developer took credit for work that was (at best) half theirs.
This continued on the developer’s own Web site (which is where the following screenshot came from).

I’m not asking Muumuu Heaven to give us credit now, I’m just ranting about the ass-rash that things like this give me. I’ve contributed on many projects and do my best not to boast about being “the man.” If you’re going to claim ownership of a design or development, then make sure it really is YOUR design/development.

(end rant)