From the article: Web Design is All Hours
When you're maintaining a site, if someone tells you about a problem, do you fix it right away? What if it's just a typo? Is there a level of severity that you'll work on immediately or do you feel all problems are equally severe? What types of problems would you be glad you were called at 3am to fix? What do you think?
Common sense
- There are some kinds of issues that should be fixed a.s.a.p.: Wrong prices for online shops, wrong legal information, major usability issues, security holes (ie: forgot the "s" in the "https:" for a 's action), and so on. I'd fix these issues as soon as they are brought to my attention if they are on a "live" site, and then apply any extra charges to the client if relevant (ex: if I miss the "s" in "https" it's my fault and fix it for free; but if the client gives me a wrong price the time for the fix will be billed). Issues on beta versions, as well as other issues in live versions, can normally wait to standard working hours. If a client insists on some minor glitch being fixed at 3 a.m., I might fix it, but overtime and overnight fees will apply. As a general rule, common sense is the best adivse... unless, of course, your contract says something else.
- —Guest herenvardo
Money? Maybe......
- But if the problem were due to my own error, I don't care what time it is. Otherwise, yes, it would partially depend on the level of compensation. Also the level of appreciation.
- —Kat0724
Quick Fixes
- It depends on my relationship with a client. I have several that are so good that I will drag myself up from a mid-day nap the second they call. Clients that I don't have that kind of relationship with are ones that I usually choose not to work with for long. I really need to love my clients to make freelancing fun.
- —Guest Rachael
Remote access
- Remotely accessing my workstation is easy as pie, and I can see the results on the spot. Also, I'd say my urge to correct things is managed by balancing between taking pride in my work and my work's recognition. If it's something I'm into, regardless of being work or not, I try and solve on the spot. If it's "just work" I'd repair major issues asap. I mean, a bit of common sense towards the site functionality is all it takes to decide how important task is, and anyone can do that. In the end it depends more on the individual's disposition at the moment, rather than the task itself.
- —TheDeadServ
Respect
- If you treat me with respect, I'll work above and beyond the call of duty. I am perhaps too easy on charging clients for extra work.
- —Guest Spewy
Midnight or after.........
- I have a Real Estate site. With the finicky market, one must keep it current especially the pricing, as it can change daily.
- —WB7BB
Free Time
- This article is spot-on! I currently work independent, but recently I interviewed for a position as Design Lead for a software development company. During my 4 hour interview with the product development teams they kept reiterating to me that "free time" would not exist for me if I took the job. Web design is a logically creative position (it requires a rational logical thought-process as well as a creative flair), and because of that, we often need time to "recharge". Ironically enough, it's also one of those positions where you DO work a lot of hours and therefore run the risk of burnout. Maybe a good article would be on how to deal with burnout.
- —dbmartin
After Midnight Fix
- 1. Server problems that affect the sites uptime. 2. A Typo that could cause embarrassment or litigation problems for the company. There's a commercial running nationally now where a company is pitching a client and the presentation reads "Our Bald New Look" instead of "Our Bold New Look". 3. Incorrect pricing or shipping info in a shopping cart system. BestBuy had a problem where they were listing an $1800+ TV for $9.99. That's worth a midnight fix. Anything else that I can think of can wait until business hours.
- —8thPlanet
Money...It all comes down to.
- Pay me enough and I will dot your I's at 3am. Treat me like a cheap drone. And I will un-dot your index.html so it reads indexhtml.
- —Guest Selvol
