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We've outsourced our app development, and they've created a DB hosted on Amazon-EC2.
For the UI we're in talks with a web designer, but they don't do any of the coding to integrate the website with the DB created by the app developers.
Is it a good idea to have one person do the website design, and another to do the DB integration coding? What issues or complications could come up?
Should we instead go with a designer who provides the complete package?
I would be looking for a pair, a designer and a developer, that have worked together in the past. If they have successfully worked together on a project before then you will avoid the largest complications you are likely to encounter; The programmer that doesn't understand and respect the design, and the designer that doesn't understand what is possible (or possible but insanely difficult)
My experience is that you do not want automatons. You want two people who feel comfortable with each other and respect each role enough to be able to have a give and take.
Something you never want to hear from your developer is (and I've heard this before)
"I did it that way because that is how it was designed. I would have only taken 2 hours instead of 4 days if I could have just..."
I wish he had come to before he had done the work. We would have sat with the designer and would have changed the design.
On the other side, designers spend more time thinking about design, and sometimes the "crazy" stuff that they come up with can really challenge and stretch a developer to push beyond what they already know is possible and create new solutions.
Ask your designer what developers he has worked with in the past. If a web designer cannot recommend a developer that he's worked with in the past, get a different designer.
It's rare to find one person that can do everything really well. I prefer to use dedicated graphics designers for the look-and-feel, and dedicated programmers for the backend. I think that, in general, the logical mind (programmers) and the artistic mind (designers) don't have much overlap, so I prefer to get specialists for each. That said, there are good and bad of each.
The designer shouldn't need know anything about how the backend works, and the programmers shouldn't have any problem turning the designer's work into the chunks (view-layer templates, etc.) they need.
This might be helpful.
In an organization there are 2 types of coders : Frontend - UI and Backend coders. You SHOULD get the UI done by an expert (web designer) and leave the geeky stuff for another expert (web developer). This is a different food entirely so if your worry is "too many cooks spoil the food" then, you shouldn't be worrying :)
The people who give COMPLETE package WILL be costly. It is as good as saying... Tailor-made holiday is better than package holiday (in terms of pricing).
i tend to look at people who do everything as people who are just in it for the money, in my point of view one need to choose an area of stick to it instead of trying to learn everything just to get larger projects from clients.
it doesn't mean that you can't find good people out there who do both, but it would be easier to find a good designer and a good programmer than a single chap who does both.
as for your designer and front-end programming, if you're taking someone for the back-end have them doing the front end as well. working with someone else's code is not the nicest thing and quite often can be real bitch.
good luck
