Ever have something like this at your work?
Yeah…
18 Responses to “Designing with Family and Friends”
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- - November 9, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Saddington, Shawn Landis. Shawn Landis said: RT @human3rror: "Designing with Family and Friends" ~~~> http://bit.ly/3Vcx2x <~~~ #FAIL //Been there a few times, unfortunately. [...]
uh… all the time! working in a church… people think that we need to involve the congregation members in every decision we make. I've heard their 'opinions' and 'ideas' plenty and each time I remember thinking to myself… "wow, I remember saying that already!" But I suppose if the higher ups are going to hear it better from a random member versus the dude they hired to do the job… as long as it gets done, so be it.
I really don't like thinking that way because I believe I should get credit for having the idea and not random church member… but whatever. You can't win em all.
That just got really personal… sorry.
Been there man! I feel ya!
dude…i've been in the ugly church member situation and been the guy on staff tasked to take the project and hide it and fix it…projects that have been talked about for years that just sit around…everything i do as a consultant is a product of all those proceses..i've learned from the good, bad, and ugly…and i ask for advice even now.
I don't mind if an organization hires friends and family to do a job, but to just insert them between the organization and a paid consultant or service provider is a big FAIL.
True. Pick one or the other. Some jobs don't require a consultant and can be done effectively by some random dude with heart. But don't mix and match…
so true…
I do the same thing with heart surgeons, attorneys, and airline pilots. They love it and it totally improves the quality of service I get from them.
[/sarcasm]
On a serious note, customers like the ones in the comic above will often be trying to tell you something by behaving that way. If you are willing to read between the lines you'll notice that often (not always) what they're saying is:
1. "You didn't set my expectations properly from the beginning. What you do and don't need from me was not articulated in our contract or expressed to me in a meaningful way."
2. "I am not satisfied with where we are now and where we are going with this. How do I take this process from a green light to a flashing yellow? Please help me, something is wrong here"
Both of these things can be addressed with a light-weight and well defined process written down on paper and delivered before the project even starts.
peace | dewde
totally agree…i'm about having intentional conversations rather than accidental ugly ones.
I love the [/sarcasm] end there
Design is subjective and everyone tends to have an opinion. I for one think there should be some sort of certification to offer design advice.
that would be cool, but hard to do. i do jobs alone, i have a partner. a lot of times i'm just the bird dog.
Dude. Right on the money.
I can relate, but the problem is that I'm usually the one sitting next to my boss while he's saying this to the designer
It's embarrasing, and frankly, I wish the designer (a long time friend of mine) would fire us as his client.
hahahaa…
yikes.
i get hired by companies and org's that have a lot of the stuff in the comic going on. and i'm honest with them about it..i've been in those ugly conversations while on staff at churches, companies, and as the consultant. it's not a perfect world we work with.
I have helped out several friends at churches who call me and say we have a website but someone in the charge is in charge of it and they will not do anything with it because they have time.
This is the greatest tragedy, when a church finds out someone does some web design, it then turns from being about good design and getting info out to getting it done cheap and quick, oh ya and enabling someone to "serve"