09 Nov 2009, Posted by Matthew Reinbold in Design, 1 Comments

Tied Hand Wringing

There are not a lot of opportunities to get my wife’s feedback on much of what I do. Often times Vox Pop is solving problems well behind the veil of a public face. Or we’re fixing some obscure nuance that, while essential for speed, stability, security, etc. very few can appreciate how that happens.

That’s why it was with much fanfare that I directed my wife to a project that was near completion. Not only was it understandable – it was a piece of functionality that I had watched her use repeatedly with other apps. “Aha!” I thought, “What a perfect opportunity for her to see how brilliant her husband’s work is!” She clicked over, tried to start, and declared:

THIS IS A MESS.

Embarrassed, I lamely exclaimed that the design problems that she was seeing weren’t my fault. “It’s the client,” I said, “they’re making me do it that way!” I tried to point out a few of the geegaws that required some clever solution but it was already too late. A few sympathy clicks later (the developer’s version of pity sex) and she was back to the old application.

It’s true this design has been dictated from the top. And, while pretty in Photoshop, the mockups were created with no thought in how things would function. All the rounded corners, drop shadows, gradients, poor contrast text, and unlabeled form fields were useless as soon as interaction was required.

It would be easy to take my check, never include this work in Vox Pop’s portfolio, and point the finger at the client. But to do so would be to accept that I was powerless in the process – something that is never the case. This was my failure. I now accept that:

• I failed to articulate what items were wrong
• When I did communicate I did not use an convincing enough arguments
• I did not adequately demonstrate better alternatives
• I “checked out” of the process when the clients reiterated that the design should be implemented exactly as they had wished, with no deviations

The last point is probably the most insidious. It was a blank check waiting to be cashed if the project failed.

“Wow, this thing kind of blows.”
“Not my fault. They wanted it that way.”

The problem becomes what I can do at this late stage. Realizing my hands aren’t tied was the first step. Now I’m wringing my hands as how best to proceed.