[Sigia-l] My Toolbox is full...now what?

[Dan_Chamberlain at dom.com]

It seems we all want some level of control over our lives and profession.
This includes your clients.

Here are two fundamental things that could turn your professional life
around, (they have served me well over the last 20 years):

   Sell: Any CEO can tell you this.Take a course on sales that includes how
   to lead people to make buying decisions and closing the sale. You see,
   what we do is not that different than helping someone buy a car... You
   see, by contracting your services they've indicated that they want your
   product. All the rest is deciding about color, CD player and all the
   rest.

   Solve Problems: Stop reinventing the wheel. Over the last 20 plus years
   I've worked with a number of very talented designers. They all have one
   thing in common. Every new project is just that, new. The successful
   ones recognize when to reuse solutions and when to build a new. So,
   build a box of standard templates for all your situations mentioned and
   reuse them, (resell them). You'll sleep better and create a more
   profitable business.

Dan Chamberlain
Sr. Systems Architect
www.dom.com



                                                                                                                                         
                      "Welie, Martijn                                                                                                    
                      van"                       To:       Sigia-l at asis.org                                                              
                      <martijn.van.welie@        cc:                                                                                     
                      satama.com>                Subject:  [Sigia-l] My Toolbox is full...now what?                                      
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                      sigia-l-bounces at asi                                                                                                
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                      03/18/2005 07:47 AM                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                         




We discuss a lot, often about processes and techniques, tools and job
titles, and even about the definition of our field. In the mean time, life
goes on. A lot of these discussions are not directly helpful in every day
life, not in mine and probably not in the lives of others. I have more than
enough tools and process diagrams, but I am still facing a world that looks
different.

The world is not ideal and as a designer I have to deal with tight budgets,
chaotic clients, impossible/unclear requirements, engineers who preach RUP
or XP, marketeers that seem to know what people need, managers who just
care
about budgets and so on. So how do I use my Toolbox under those
circumstances?

I'd be interested in peoples experiences with:
- How to 'play' with clients and how to push them into directions you want
them to go?
- How to use my tools in varying circumstances: 2 week project, 6 week
project or 15 week projects? Depending on the circumstances, the tools have
more/less value in a project.
- How to bend a project 'doomed to fail' into a 'slightly succesful
project'?
- How to speed up the design process? How to cut corners? Otherwise we are
loosing money...
- How to do the impossible? E.g. write useful persona's in one day, do a
usability test in 2 days, create a styleguide in 3 days.....I am convinced
it is possible
- How can you avoid getting into expensive and timeconsuming evaluation
with
end-users, without compromising the product's usability?
- Which tools are nice but not really necessary? E.g. Do I really need card
sorting or will persona's and a bit of common sense do the job as well?
- ...and so on....please add your own frustrations....:-)

My point is that tools don't create great products, designers do. I see
many
designers over-rely on tools and processes while the final product remains
mediocre at best. Of course, that is not always the designer's fault but it
shows that there is more to it than just knowing your tools and
processes....

So what are the secrets of creating good/great stuff under real life
circumstances?

Regards,

Martijn van Welie
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