WYSIWYG Syndrome

Why do clients hire experts and then ignore them? What’s interesting is that the Web seems particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon. Why is that? I attribute it to what I’ll call the “WYSIWYG Syndrome”  (WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get). The WYSIWYG Syndrome is a byproduct of several false beliefs:

1. Daily use of the Internet = expert knowledge
2. Web pages stand alone, independent from other Web pages
3. A Web site (and the Web in general) is a flexible medium
4. Tools like Dreamweaver and Web-based site builders make creating a robust Web site easy

I refer to this as the “WYSIWYG Syndrome” because many clients correlate what is possible directly with what they can see. They see a page with a bunch of stuff on it that links to other pages with more stuff. So changing it may be a minor pain —but how hard can it be? Voila, a Web site!

Well, we know better, don’t we? A dynamic Web site, especially one using a Content Management System (CMS) is more than the sum of its parts. There are business rules, databases, widgets, feeds, etc. What you don’t see creates a large percentage of what you get. Not to mention all the analysis, planning, and design that goes into development.

So, where does that leave us? We work in a medium that seems simple but is actually very complex. A plethora of WYSIWYG tools make it seem like anyone can build a killer Web site with all the bells and whistles. Modern Web pages are more than the sum of their parts. How do we get this across to clients?

I like to use the house analogy. When a house is in the blueprint stage, it’s easy to add a wall or a room or a light switch. A blueprint is like a wire frame, functional spec, or comp. If no nail has been driven (or no code has been written), it’s easier to make changes. Now once the building is under construction, changes become more difficult and expensive. Using our analogy, let’s see what happens when we add a room after the fact.

• Additional construction may require a new permit (hence, more $$$)
• To tie in the new room, part of the existing building may have to be taken down; new concrete footings and foundation walls may need to be poured
• The new room changes the roofline. The engineer has to be called in and additions to the plans may have to be made. Restructuring of the existing roof may be required.
• The additional electrical load of the extra room requires a new panel. The old electrical panel has to be removed and a new panel added and rewired
• The additional room calls for a bathroom. To add new drains, part of the concrete floor has to be jack-hammered up. Existing plumbing has to be modified.
• The room takes up yard space that was going to be a patio, outdoor kitchen, and hot tub. It takes up 2/3 of the target space, so now there’s not enough room for the outdoor kitchen.
• The new room puts an added load onto the heating and cooling system. The original unit isn’t big enough to service the whole house, so a larger, more expensive unit is required.

Adding a new room i.e., a new site feature or set of pages or section, turns out to be a big deal. Systems and information are intertwined and can affect each other in unforeseen ways.

Despite our best efforts to trumpet best practices, some will still choose to go down the wrong path. The best course of action is to educate clients early and often using these or similar examples.