I make websites for a living Hi! I'm just someone who develops websites. This blog isn't about me, but it's vaguely related to what I do.

A little tip for web developers. If you've ever had a client or employer who isn't too knowledgeable about programming, you may have come across the situation where they think a project isn't going according to schedule, simply because the design hasn't been implemented fully yet.

As web programmers know, sometimes adding in the HTML and CSS is only a small part of the project when there are more complex programming tasks involved. Still, some clients will get in a panic when half the time for the project has elapsed and they can't see something tangible yet.

Most of the time, when working with these kinds of clients particularly, it's better to fully build the design first, even if the back-end doesn't work. The client's perception is generally that the web form you're building is always 90% complete if they can see what it will look like. What happens when they press "submit" is often only 10% of the work as far as they're concerned, no matter what proportion it turns out to be in reality.

If you build the visual elements first, you should have fewer problems convincing them that the project is on track, because when they ask how it's going, you can show them something tangible (that they can understand) and say you're just sorting out some code on the back-end to complete the job. This generally gives them a lot more confidence about the work being finished on time.