[Sigia-l] site redesign sales proposals

[Christopher Fahey]

About half of our clients tell us that they don't need us to look at  
their current sites in any formal way at all (that is, they don't see  
any value in paying for a detailed site analysis, heuristic/usability  
or design/stylistically), and would rather start from scratch design-  
and IA-wise. The other half find that they cannot justify any changes  
to their site internally unless we document why the change needs to  
be made, in which case a thorough analysis is often a key requirement.

And occasionally we're asked to provide this site analysis in the  
sales process. This is fine, insofar as it reveals our strategic  
thinking to the client, but when this analysis is very detailed, it  
is called "spec work", and it's generally not a good idea to do it  
unless you're very hungry.

Recently we were asked by two different potential clients to submit a  
proposal for a project where the entire job being bid for was,  
essentially, to produce documentation to help the client convince  
their bosses that they needed a huge budget for a redesign. We  
reluctantly turned down one of them outright, and for the other we  
submitted a proposal that put more emphasis on making a rapid  
prototype of a new site that embodied the improvements they need --  
instead of simply rattling off all the problems they currently have.  
A solution is more sellable than a complaint.

For most sites that come to us for redesigns, the usability problems  
that would be enumerated in a deep heuristic analysis are so obvious,  
egregious, and fundamental that by simply starting from scratch with  
a top-notch design team, following a user-centered process, the  
client would instantly fix all of those problems. There is no need to  
point out that the roof of the hillbilly shack is sub-par because it  
is cobbled together out of scrap wood when everyone knows they simply  
need a real roof.

I guess we have more sympathy for the clients who don't want to dwell  
on their past design mistakes. Some shops may specialize in pointing  
out problems, some exclusively so, but because Behavior is a shop  
that likes to propose solutions we prefer to try to move on to design  
as soon as possible.

Another twist is to advise and train clients on how they go about  
thinking their future design processes, by providing style guides,  
publishing systems, and user-centered methodologies to them to ensure  
that they don't make the same mistakes in future site enhancements.  
This is a sellable service, too, because revamping a maintenance  
process is part of a "redesign".

-Cf


Christopher Fahey
____________________________
Behavior
http://www.behaviordesign.com
me: http://www.graphpaper.com