Comments for The Good

Comment on No More Chasing Waterfalls by Rob

Rob — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:34:26 +0000

Nice, Jason. The Nordstrom case study certainly was a great example of how nimble we should be. I especially liked the time-boxing aspect, which prevented feature creep and kept everyone on task, and gave a nice conclusion to the project.

Comment on Keeping their Perspective in Perspective by Sherry

Sherry — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:37:21 +0000

Love the mobile analogy (I’m also partial to bunnies but that’s neither here nor there). I often find myself trying to improve on my delivery of explanations to clients about why something they’re asking for might not serve their customers as well as it serves them. I know why but I have an understanding of marketing as well as design. It takes a little finesse and often solid examples. With the web, this matter of useability it often overlooked because notions of print design sometimes get jumbled up in the mix. A customer or client would not interact with a printed brochure the same why they would with a website. There’s a few standard design principals that can of course be applied. I have a premeditated response for the, “above the fold” quandry for instance.

Well anyway, I’m glad to see this perspective.

Comment on Build Goals, Not Features by Shaun Tinney

Shaun Tinney — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:13:49 +0000

@Rick Allen: While I disagree that if something has been written about in a book it's not worth discussing, I would definitely recommend anyone read Start With Why. As Steve Jobs said, "creativity is just connecting things", and we'll be connecting a lot of ideas from literature, cinema, science, and just about anywhere else we can to help push the interactive industry forward.

Comment on Build Goals, Not Features by Rick Allen

Rick Allen — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:50:30 +0000

This is nothing new and has been covered in Simon Sinek’s book, “Start with Why.”

Comment on Build Goals, Not Features by Shaun Tinney

Shaun Tinney — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:41:58 +0000

@Sam Alexander: Shifting the conversation from features to goals is the first step, removing a requirement for perfection is the second. In most cases, launch is delayed based on the fear that whatever is launched won't be perfect. Tacking on extra features is a way to delay what we should really be seeking: real feedback from the people the site was built to interact with. Recognize launch as a best guess then listen, learn, and improve from there. Interactive work should be just that, and there's no reason to place one big bet when a series of smaller ones will make for a better experience for users, and a better investment for clients.

Comment on Build Goals, Not Features by Sam Alexander

Sam Alexander — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:48:30 +0000

This is spot on.

We have found that by focusing on goals and audience at the beginning phase of a project, you create an entirely different discussion. When this isn’t properly presented, you end up with clients who bring a laundry list of “pet features” — which immediately muddys the conversation.

The real exercise, however, is keeping the focus on decided goals through the lifetime of a project. There is so much anxiety that can be produced before launch, “is this the right concept?”, “is this going to be enough?”. The easy way out is to stack the cards in your favor; attempt to widen the net by squeezing in “just one more” feature. How do you stay the course?

I think your answer is: You don’t worry about it. You launch and you adjust accordingly after launch. This is great advice.