hi folks, im new to this,
Outsourcing experience
Whilst it is very easy to be suspicious of external sources, the reality is: the US outsource to Australia, and we aren't all high schoolers behind our dad's computers.
I've been using Elance, and I've found them as good if not better than local talent. The reason why is because YOU hold all the keys, and laziness is just not an option in fast-paced counties like India, China and Russia.
To give you an idea on what to expect, I placed a provider bit (that means I do the work) for the creation of 50 textures for $120. That's a serious low-ball from an Australian perspective - upwards of 50 hours of work there, and I got outbid. Someone with a great portfolio kicked my butt in price, and I lost the job.
Outsourcing is the future dude. You can disagree with it, but you can't ignore it. The people who learn to use it effectively have a lot more time, and a LOT more money.
Here's a list of books I recommend if you're going to start outsourcing, on a site built by a guy I hired on Elance.
http://www.booqbooq.com/adam/elance-reading-list
Happy managing,
-Adam
Unfortunately, in a way you are right
Sadly i have to agree with the fact that Australian developers just cannot compete against unfavourable exchange rates. What makes a good wage in India, China and Russia doesn't cut it here. As they are fighting each other for the same jobs I suspect even for them the prices are low.
Thankfully (for my own career) I find much design work requires detailed and subtle 2-way communication to accurately communicate desired goals and negotiate suitable outcomes. This makes remote outsourcing largely impractical for some types of projects. Speaking of which I think booqbooq is a good example of this. The site really fails to communicate effectively what it is about plus lacks visual appeal, details that would have quite likely been addressed at face-to-face milestone meetings during the project.
There is also a moral issue - if you outsource to another country you really are not supporting local industry. It's an industry that is floundering and quite frankly could do with better support.
It's all about communication
You're completely right about the issues booqbooq faces with presenting a simple message. But I don't think it's because of the outsourced talent; I think it's because I made a LOT of mistakes when originally designing it!
If I'd constructed a more robust design document with 100% UI flow, I'm sure that, with the aide of copywriting, the site would be much more polished. Sadly, my budget and time only stretched so far for this public prototype. Call it a work in progress atm :)
The patriotic "keep talent local" never hit me as important. The way I see it, people who get jobs are people who are good at them. I don't hire or deal with people simply because they're Australian. If I did that, I'd never have left my hometown of 50,000.
In the end, I think it's about horses for courses. Dealing with local developers you can meet with makes things much easier on the managerial side, but at the potential cost of a higher budget. Outsourcing is excellent for startups and people who are willing to train up their communication skills so they span several timezones.
Google for "outsource +freelance +3d" or something like that and a host of sites where people bid on work will come up. Be midful you will probably be outsourcing to India, China or some highschool kid using Dad's computer.
good luck - I expect you will get what you pay for through those services.