Design Process: 13)  Refine the Look and Feel 

One of the more aggravating, demoralizing, and expensive things to happen to any project is when someone with the ability to change the scope, indeed changes the scope after it’s been sent to the printer or sent to development.

Typically there are checks and balances that prevent this from happening, but it seems like there is always at least once person that throws a wrench in the process. 

Think back to all of the steps that have already completed. Is this change in scope vital to the success of the project?  Sometimes, in print projects, it is. It could be a change in call to action, or a phone number, or inclusion into a certain campaign.

A feature, generally, is something that requires a bit of effort in design, as it requires rethinking processes as a user, and usually means the team will have to go back through many of the process steps again. Generally, you won’t have the ability to test this with users to validate that the feature is worthwhile.

For this reason, I institute a “no more features” point in my projects. Adding a feature at this point in the project means that you have failed along the way. Typically it’s either a stakeholder who doesn’t value the process, or a team member who was critical to the process who didn’t do their part. That’s why it’s critical for people to attend the small meetings, understand what’s happening, and make sure they do their part — when they are supposed to.

Potential Pitfalls

This is without a doubt the biggest danger in every project. Are you trying to do too much? Have you planned for what you are attempting to do? Do you have answers for all of the questions that absolutely have to be answered? 

If not, you can not proceed, or you will fail.

You have to have a cut-off point for features, or else you will never finish and can not be successful. Better to add that feature in a future phase than to try to slide it into the current workload. This is easier said than done, as many times stakeholders/clients/executives don't understand what it takes to do something that is being proposed. This is critical, and is where the Owner and/or Manager need to be able to communicate to the stakeholders/clients/executives that what is being asked of their team is not feasible — either from a financial standpoint or workload standpoint. If this does not happen, then you will risk losing your workforce to another opportunity somewhere else.