[Sigia-l] 1 > 3?

[Listera]

Thomas Vander Wal:

> I fully stopped the "options" approach about
> four years ago, mostly out of lack of resources.

Yes, clients are entitled to get whatever they want, *as long as they pay
for it.*

In a shoe store the marginal cost of trying out 3 shoes (shelf space, time,
etc) is close to nil. So we don't think thrice about asking for variations.
But nobody in a restaurant asks for 3 'options' on the same dish, taste all
and just keep one to finish off *for the price one.*

And yet clients think nothing of asking for 3 'options' for the price of one
when it comes to digital artifacts. What's missed here is the glaring fact
that this is self-defeating. It's impossible for the same designer, say, to
give equal (or even close) attention to 3 distinct options. What usually
happens is that *all* 3 options, including what's likely the
leading/eventual option, suffer.

Of course, there are sometimes perfectly legitimate reasons why 3 or more
options need to be tried, but more often than not, the notion of forced
options in the name of risk reduction is false economy.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba