In my day to day design work I use a variety of tools - from image, text to code editors. At any given point of time I have at least three applications running in order for me to design something. Mostly photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and sometimes even Flash. They are all feature packed, most of which I don’t use - but yet I had to pay for them. {I also usually have open an FTP client, two web browsers and last but not least an old laptop which I am FORCED to keep because of IE 6!}

I think it’s time for a shift in the way companies make and deliver applications. Don’t you think?

The Past

I didn’t build websites in 1999, which is a good thing because I would still be using tables, so I can’t really say what the process was like back then. But I did build them in 2002. I remember using Flash and devouring the “Learn Flash in 24 hours” book within a few hours. I got a headache afterwards.

Dreamweaver was next in line, and yes I did use tables then. But that was only because I was so eager to publish my first piece of work on the web, I did not even consider such a thing as ease of editing later on with CSS.

I did not meet CSS till 2005, as I took a break in between from doing websites. I’m glad I met her though, she makes life so much easier. Even fluffs the pillows for me at night.

The Present

A bevy of web design applications that can mostly let you build anything you like, as long as you know how to use them. Oh, and you’ll need a really good computer to run at least 2 - 3 of them at the same time. Also, don’t forget that sometimes they may crash because of the overload.

Not too mention that even though you bought the Premium edition, your clients sons and daughters have it too. They will almost always have a “really good hand” for using . Since you have just bought a bunch of software and want to get to work you agree to design and code full websites for $300. Great! 6 more and you’ll be in the black.

Be patient and give it a couple of months, a lot of clients have kids with Photoshop and Dreamweaver nowadays. Or you could instead learn how to use the software as much as possible, books and school are a good place to start, and charge what you’re really worth.

The Future

Hopefully by sometime in the near future, design applications will be less power hungry and more designer friendly. Wouldn’t it be great if you could customize Photoshop, or Dreamweaver {as an example} and download a version with selected components - rather than everything that Adobe thinks you need.

I’ll admit there are some tools in Photoshop that I just don’t use. So why should I pay for them? Same with most other design software or any application that lets you do something. If I can customize my computer with hard disk space, RAM, drives, media cards etc… and more, Why can’t I customize my applications? I would not need to buy upgrades to my system, or buy a new one altogether, just because your feature packed application needs more RAM, space etc… I could just download the new component if I need it and that’s it - it should work. Period.

If I could customize my applications, then I could have them do exactly what I wanted and nothing more. Plus it would greatly increase my workflow and run more efficiently.

Customization = Smooth Workflows

It’s not like I’m building a car, although sometimes the mechanics {coding} may probably take as long. But then again in Asian countries they are popping out cars in 24 hours on assembly lines, from metal sheets to the car showroom. So why is it so hard for the companies that build these applications to simplify them. Instead of hogging my CPU power and forcing me to pay for tools in an application that I will probably never use.

I know I could go all open source, but then again the same problem lies there. Gimp, Inkscape, FileZilla etc…, plus the tools don’t really deliver what the others offer.

What do you think? Don’t you think if you were able to customize your applications it would make your life so much easier. Plus you would know exactly what you are getting in your software, rather than having a feature packed version with no need for most of them.

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About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.