Paul Boag is a web-design guru and in this great article he has some tips for getting through the corporate bureaucracy when it comes to web site design, development and management.
Here is his list:
- Educate and inform
- Hold stakeholder interviews
- Avoid group committee meetings
- Target your influencers
- Use third party experts
- Rely on evidence, not opinion
- Focus on the user
- Control the feedback
- Ask why
- Avoid confrontation
He lists ten ways to do this but they really are centrally themed on education. In my role as an Interactive Director I focus on educating my clients and team members daily. In my role I need to be able answer the single most fundamental question about designing and developing websites. “Why?”
My clients understand “how” to run their companies and my team knows “how” to build websites. It’s my role as the director to let everyone in on the answer to the elusive “Why?” questions. “Why these keywords?” “Why this call-to-action?” “Why SEO?” “Why are we doing it this way?” “Why will this work?”.
I’m glad that Paul points out that the “Why” “…is probably the most powerful of all the techniques I have listed here and yet by far the simplest.”
In today’s world there is a lot of fear within companies and organizations about the web and it’s influence on their brand. It is up to us as design and development professionals to create an atmosphere of trust and accountability in order to deliver a successful solution for both our peers and our clients.
How? Be the one that knows “Why”.
Read Paul’s Article then read Positive Space’s thoughts on the “Why” as well.
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