Work, in Plain English

I’ve got nothing against low-priced design. You generally do “get what you pay for”, but there are exceptions, and really, it may be all you need.

Morgan Lynch, founder of Logoworks, tells a story of the disappointment and expense that led him to start the company. Designers should read it, and his criticism of the traditional design process, to learn some important lessons about providing exceptional value for clients.

Why do so many designers charge more? Because, if they are doing their job right, they’re spending time and resources to give you a symbol that will be pivotal to growing your business. When your business grows, the value of that symbol will grow tremendously. Experienced designers understand that value from the beginning, and provide abundant sweat equity to give it a voice.

What are they doing with all that time and effort?

1.
They’re asking questions, and listening – to you and to your industry. What’s important to you? How does this project fit into your long term goals? How do you expect to use and reproduce it? And hopefully, how might you unexpectedly find yourself using it?

2.
Another important element is research. It overlaps listening, but includes the leg-work involved in finding out: What attracts, inspires or offends your target market? What’s the smartest way to produce your materials (printed brochures, coded websites, etc.)? And what’s new – what couldn’t we do before that we can do now?

Finding a good design studio that won’t vaporize your budget takes some careful poking around. There are also a lot of talented, hard-working people out there who are not charging enough to cover their own overhead (if you choose this route, make sure to be gracious, and to pay them promptly).

Lower priced designers often don’t have the time to do much listening or research. They must produce and bill quickly to make a project worthwhile. On the other hand, lots of people have wasted ridiculous amounts of money for poorly researched work, or an identity program that completely missed the mark. You may be one of many businesses who’ll have plenty of delight and success with their $99 logo. Before you click the buy button, though, read this article on the USA Today site about how to work with cut-rate logo services.

If you decide to go with the traditional and more costly designer, find someone that you sense will really believe in you and your project (more of my thoughts about outstanding design are here). Find someone you personally like, because that makes it easier to ask for and get the level of involvement you want. Most importantly, be willing to give and take time with it. It’s kind of what you’re paying for.

Feedback is central to collaboration. This is true for any size project, but truer and truer the bigger it gets.

No doubt, it’s a two-edged sword that can cut a project to pieces, fracturing its focus and gutting its spark.

Designers have been complaining for years about decision-makers who request outrageous changes at the worst possible moment, rather than taking the time to catch issues during the review process.

Still, we need feedback, and we often need feedback from people with wildly varying ideas about what it is we do and how we work. It’s up to you, not only to clarify your role, but also to reconsider it often, because it will change and evolve.

One way to do that, and make the most of all that review power, is with a Review Guide:

At each presentation, at each phase of the project, tell the review team what kind of feedback you need, and explain how honoring this will save time and resources. I predict this will never get old. Every time, at each phase, provide a list of exactly what is expected, and provide it in a checklist form. And every time, at each phase, inform the reviewers that skipping the items on this list is likely to result in delays and expense.

Keep in mind that this puts the onus of achieving ideal results squarely on you. If you neglect to include an important item on the checklist, or include it at the wrong phase, it becomes your responsibility.

That is, of course, if everyone completely honors the Guide.

I’ll be sharing more thoughts about how to create Review Guides in the weeks ahead, so if it sounds like a tool you can use, please stay tuned!

Thinking about creativity? resourcefulness? innovation?

Have you seen AfriGadget?

A site “dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity”, AfriGadget is updated by a team of bloggers and readers who post remarkable content from around the African continent. Articles run the gamut from recycling, transportation and community to music and toys.

One of my favorite stories is of a Ugandan Housewife’s Homemade Mobile Phone Charger. She makes it so clear that the world really is chock full of solutions.

Some smart folks at .net are starting a revolution.

Don’t you just love revolutions?

The plus side of committees is that everyone brings a different perspective, and different strengths, to the table. One of their infamous minuses—the bottleneck (sometimes known as pea soup or the black hole)—becomes exponentially aggravating for each person you add to the group (not to mention those that show up near the end of the project).

Here are a few tips to help you transform snags into synergy. They refer mostly to design, but have value for anyone moving a project through committee approval:

Committee Un-bottlenecking Tip#1:
Committee involvement is easier—and more productive—if the group reviews only a reasonable sampling of the project. Be on the lookout for issues that don’t really belong in the meeting room.

Recently, as we neared the end of a website design project, I realized I was unnecessarily prolonging the agony, not only for myself, but for everyone poring over the layouts. After taking a look at which pages were truly critical to business, I was able to halve the number of page templates I submitted for committee review, and free myself to put this baby to bed.

What’s a reasonable sampling? Just make sure you understand which parts of the project are critical. For example, on the current project, I know which pages are expected to generate the most revenue, and which involve external business partnerships. For those pages, I’ll need input from the individuals who intimately know the market, the numbers, and the nuances of the partnerships.

Of course, some participants may insist on seeing it all, but I wouldn’t even say, “Hey, we’re only going to show you a sampling.” That’s too tantalizing a whiff of the “forbidden” (it would be for me). Don’t bring it up.

Committee Un-bottlenecking Tip#2:
Cull again: Watch for issues that can slip in, especially as you get close to the end of the approval process. Do these really require executive involvement?

Present it as a positive: “The key issues are A, B and C. If you’re happy with these, we can call this phase done and move on to [next urgent project].” By the end of a long approval process, only the most dogged will really feel the need to “see it all”, and will understand that they’ve seen enough.

Committee Un-bottlenecking Tip#3:
Take the time to engage and empathize with the key detractors.

If there are too many hanging issues, meet directly with one key detractor at a time (maybe two), and be prepared to do some genuine listening (that’s different from caving, and even more different from manipulating). There’s a good chance they have concerns and perspectives that are easier to explain in a one-on-one meeting. Whether you fully agree or not, you’ll have a chance to find some common ground, and you’ll have an advocate at the next review. If you’re not sure how to do this, I highly recommend Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, also known as compassionate communication, an approach that’s been used by families, businesses and communities to work together to meet the needs of all concerned.

I’m not against working with committees, as long as they have essentially productive intentions (mostly free of power wars), and I get to be there in the room. Do everything you can to meet all the individuals deciding the fate of your work. If you are a designer working with corporations, this, too, is design. But be smart: Tap the business wisdom being made available to you and take the time to make sure they are reviewing only necessary items.

Listen, respond, get the sign-off, and get out!

Recently, I was inspired by a conversation with Matt Batt (@storyassistant) about his new mantra, “I refuse to participate in this recession!” What a great affirmation!

As we talked about it, I realized I had a unique anchor to help me ride out the current economic storm. In the days that followed, I worked out a short list of lessons I’ve learned as a single parent, and which I hope will inspire you:

1. Regardless of your fears, focus ahead to what you want.
How are you going to spot the opportunities if you’re not looking for them? Trust me: Constant worry is exhausting, accomplishes nothing and wastes time you could spend enjoying family and friends. Like crossing a wide stream, be alert for slippery spots but keep your attention on the grassy, sun-dappled, opposite shore.

2. Celebrate what you have.
Beyond being thankful for what you have, find ways to celebrate it. All of it.

In December, 2007, Oprah Magazine published an amazing story by Peggy Orenstein. It traces not only the impact of the classic book, Mrs. Mike, on the author, but also her journey and ultimate meeting with its authors, Nancy and Benedict Freedman. If you click on that link and read the story, I hope one of your personal take-aways will be a promise to yourself to meet adversity as they have: When life served its ups, they celebrated; when it served the downs, they did the same.

3. To heck with the statistics.
Years ago, I stumbled upon a chart that showed the percentage of single mothers living beyond their means, depending on the number of children. It was a dreadful, depressing report, and I sank into hopelessness for a full two weeks. Then, one night, I had had enough. I looked up at the starry sky and declared an end to letting studies and statistics define my future (I really don’t believe the wiser statisticians ever meant to do that). Believe me or not, from that moment, everything changed. And regardless of ups and downs since then, I’ve held fiercely to my belief in a Statistic of One.

The blows and changes to our economy are scary, disorienting and not yet over. We’ll have opportunities to learn things about ourselves—both individually and collectively, and to create meaning out of the chaos. As much as I still worry over too many little things, I remain an optimist. I have faith in my ability to cope, and reader, I have faith in you. You’re strong, you’re resourceful, your grace and dignity are profound, and whether or not you remember it, you have an amazing sense of humor.

It’s easy to stay focused on the objectives of a 6-to-8 week project. For example, a current site redesign includes objectives for building revenue from specific sources and strengthening the current community. It’s those 6+ month projects that can drag the team’s attention away… to things like checking off the task list, interruptions for smaller requests, and working around vacation schedules.

At the moment, my simple solution, and promise to myself, is to review project objectives every Monday morning. I’ll be starting this coming week, and expect to scan work to date to make sure it’s still doing that fundamental job.

I’d love to hear how others keep their sights on a project’s objectives over the long haul… Comments?

The best part is the silent moments as interviewees search for words—vulnerable, human faces. I showed this to my son, and would like you to see it, too.

After I posted this note, I happened to rediscover Only Human, “a community where people share stories publicly or anonymously about mistakes they’ve made in life and their advice to others.” Not a lot of recent posts, but I wonder what would happen if they created an area for project post mortems.

To inspire great design, don’t teach design processes. A fixed set of design steps is more likely to stifle the unexpected bursts of breakthrough insight that newer designers can contribute to a project.

Instead, consider offering design challenges that help them discover and develop their own processes.

Here are some challenge ideas (always starting with acknowledgment):

1. Great layout! Do you think you can show me an alternate color palette within [tight deadline]?

2. Cool typeface! If we keep using it, we’ll need secondary and body faces that complement it. Wrap up this piece, and then let’s meet in three days with your suggestions.

3. Your banner ad generated 2.2% conversion! What do you think did it?

Been thinking about this a lot lately, sparked by a big, fat design project, as well as questions about the foggy role of “creatives” in a technical environment. Then Amber Naslund polled her readers about their line of work. I had just started following her on Twitter, and mentioned something about how Design is Communications (grouped with PR and Marketing on her poll). She tweeted back with a rather pointed and clarifying question, which leads us here, to these five essential ideas:

1. Design Guides an Audience
Outstanding designers observe and speak to the human experience, and how people respond to their environment. As a hopefully-inflammatory example, the idea of handing website architecture to a specialist can be either really smart or really wasteful. Designers have been building complex wayfinding systems, from product catalogs and professional directories to zoo and parking signage, for decades.

2. Design Anticipates Growth
Strategically-minded designers look beyond what their client offers to what they plan, dream and hope to offer. This prepares both the client and the audience for a healthy, long-term relationship.

3. Design Influences
At some point in their career, a designer must consciously choose whether they will manipulate their audience or connect with them. Sure, you can connect for the purpose of manipulating, but you can also connect for the purpose of connecting.

The idea is not at all new, but the effectiveness of genuinely connecting with your market is being dramatically proven by the social networking movement. And this choice is a kind of rudder for all intentional influencers.

4. Design Listens
Really another look at how design influences, consider that the most successful design manifests itself not as a statement, but as a conversation. As an example, here’s a link to the old NYT mytimes welcome page.

5. Design Individuates
Whether it’s a billboard, a discussion forum or an injection-molded gift, great design does something more than give form to function: It creates an individual “face”—with all its subtle nuances—by which people recognize it as being familiar, valuable, approachable and relevant.

These five points need more fleshing-out, but then designers talk about this stuff all the time, probably too much… Perhaps that’s a good reason to keep these short and sweet.