6 Tips for Avoiding Website Roadblocks by Bryan
June 16, 2010 in Implementation, Business and Startups, Notable with 6 Comments
How do you push your website projects forward without getting stuck along the way? We've discussed different personality types and soliciting feedback, but how do we deal with the bigger issues designers face when launching a web project?
Let's look at six common roadblocks and their solutions:
1. No clear deadline. Although it's a simple concept, many companies have trouble staying on track. Instead of letting problems grow over time, reevaluate progress each week and make adjustments ahead of an impending disaster three months down the road.
2. Perfection. The site is never going to be completely right. Push it live and learn from customers.
3. Unclear goals to launch. Finish lines need a tangible end point. If the team doesn't know how to win, then it's going to get stuck in circles chasing ideas.
4. Poor project planning. "The easy Photoshop button," "the site that magically fills itself with content," or the "engineering problem that is no big deal." We've all heard (or made) these comments, and they never end well. Pull your team in early and ask tough questions— it's not going to get easier in the middle of the project!
5. Lack of engineering thinking. Websites are moving bits, not dynamic ad boards. The engineer you see as not being a team player probably has a few reasons why the answer is "that won't work"— find out what they are. Look for ways to incorporate engineering thinking into the early phases of a project.
6. No interface talent. Those pages aren't going to just suddenly come together by themselves. Make sure your team is stacked with people who understand how to construct web pages, it's fundamental to a successful web project.
6 Comments
sameer says:
The other major hindrance to proper project delivery is managements insistence to push the project out of the door and get the clients to make payments. The focus of these companies is more on Money than on customer Satisfaction.
Bryan (ZURB) says:
Sameer, agreed. But it's a also great tactic if your willing to reduce scope to get projects out the door. It's not always about money, it's about momentum!
Brandon Cox says:
Perfection... that's a big one! Sometimes it feels like there are an endless string of "just this one more detail" statements. Last week a client told me, I think we'd like to redo the navigation just a bit, which translated into a near overhaul of the css. Gotta set some marks and stick to them.
Carlos says:
Definitely something we all battle with on a project by project basis.
Ted Thompson says:
Some excellent points, run into a few of them myself on numerous occasions over the years.
Roeland (ZURB) says:
Also, everyone's objectives in the project need to be aligned. Creating a project blueprint goes a long way to resolving this potential roadblock.
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