Comments on: Improving Your Process: Maintaining Product Quality http://mondaybynoon.com/2008/04/14/improving-your-process-maintaining-product-quality/ A resource for Web designers and developers to read about and discuss their craft. Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:29:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Nathan Smith http://mondaybynoon.com/2008/04/14/improving-your-process-maintaining-product-quality/#comment-1705 Nathan Smith Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:51:09 +0000 http://mondaybynoon.com/?p=137#comment-1705 Jonathan: Well spoken, sir. I've seen the monkey-see, monkey-do problem far too often, especially with churches and ministries. For instance, with COR.org, since it's the largest in its denomination, many smaller churches just ripped off their ideas (and graphics) whole-sale. But, such is life, I suppose. We just have to keep fighting the good fight, advocating quality vs. a quick-fix (which is often quite broken). Jonathan: Well spoken, sir. I’ve seen the monkey-see, monkey-do problem far too often, especially with churches and ministries. For instance, with COR.org, since it’s the largest in its denomination, many smaller churches just ripped off their ideas (and graphics) whole-sale. But, such is life, I suppose. We just have to keep fighting the good fight, advocating quality vs. a quick-fix (which is often quite broken).

]]> By: Jonathan Christopher http://mondaybynoon.com/2008/04/14/improving-your-process-maintaining-product-quality/#comment-1706 Jonathan Christopher Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:01:49 +0000 http://mondaybynoon.com/?p=137#comment-1706 @Nate Klaiber: Thanks very much for your thoughtful response. Convincing yourself that a successful competitor is doing something wrong is no easy task. Try to convince a client of that is even more tough. There are definitely times where you're literally forced to do something, and in all honestly I believe it's unavoidable when you're being paid to build websites. At the end of the day, you can't outright refuse to do things and expect to retain clients. Much of the time, however, clients are more than willing to listen to your suggestions for alternatives, as well as your explanation of the fault(s) behind their idea. You bringing up a situation in which the problem is completely internal is one which escaped me while writing this piece. When the 'orders' are coming from higher up the ladder, there really isn't much you can do other than bite the bullet and implement. In a more hostile job scenario there's always a threat of repercussions as a result of voicing your opinion when marketing is trying to do their part. Thanks again for providing your experience! @Nate Klaiber: Thanks very much for your thoughtful response. Convincing yourself that a successful competitor is doing something wrong is no easy task. Try to convince a client of that is even more tough. There are definitely times where you’re literally forced to do something, and in all honestly I believe it’s unavoidable when you’re being paid to build websites. At the end of the day, you can’t outright refuse to do things and expect to retain clients. Much of the time, however, clients are more than willing to listen to your suggestions for alternatives, as well as your explanation of the fault(s) behind their idea. You bringing up a situation in which the problem is completely internal is one which escaped me while writing this piece. When the ‘orders’ are coming from higher up the ladder, there really isn’t much you can do other than bite the bullet and implement. In a more hostile job scenario there’s always a threat of repercussions as a result of voicing your opinion when marketing is trying to do their part. Thanks again for providing your experience!

]]> By: Nate Klaiber http://mondaybynoon.com/2008/04/14/improving-your-process-maintaining-product-quality/#comment-1707 Nate Klaiber Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:33:02 +0000 http://mondaybynoon.com/?p=137#comment-1707 "Just because a (possibly successful) competitor has done one thing, it doesn’t mean it was a good choice." That is one of the biggest things I have had to re-inforce in the past. Just because a competitor is doing something, doesn't mean it is a de-facto standard (in some cases it could be just plain stupid). I think one of our biggest challenges is what you stated at the end: "We work in an industry saturated with establishments trying to make a quick buck anywhere they can, which degrades our surface value. " Agencies like this are all around us, and will say 'yes' to anything - without really knowing how to make things a cohesive whole. I have had to succumb to some stupid things in the past, but that was mostly because I was in house and it entailed requests from CEO/Marketing - even though I may have battled. It was harder when I worked in house, as the CEO would always say 'our competitor site has XYZ, why don't we?' - when I knew full well it wouldn't fit our business model and goals of our website. However, he was the CEO - and as such thought he had all the right answers. This made it tough on my position as he didn't respect my opinion (backed by research) - and just assumed I should do what he said. It was poor leadership. “Just because a (possibly successful) competitor has done one thing, it doesn’t mean it was a good choice.”

That is one of the biggest things I have had to re-inforce in the past. Just because a competitor is doing something, doesn’t mean it is a de-facto standard (in some cases it could be just plain stupid).

I think one of our biggest challenges is what you stated at the end:

“We work in an industry saturated with establishments trying to make a quick buck anywhere they can, which degrades our surface value. ”

Agencies like this are all around us, and will say ‘yes’ to anything – without really knowing how to make things a cohesive whole.

I have had to succumb to some stupid things in the past, but that was mostly because I was in house and it entailed requests from CEO/Marketing – even though I may have battled.

It was harder when I worked in house, as the CEO would always say ‘our competitor site has XYZ, why don’t we?’ – when I knew full well it wouldn’t fit our business model and goals of our website. However, he was the CEO – and as such thought he had all the right answers. This made it tough on my position as he didn’t respect my opinion (backed by research) – and just assumed I should do what he said. It was poor leadership.

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