Help me figure out if being a designer is always this hellish.
October 13, 2007 4:26 PM Subscribe
Help me figure out if being a designer is always this hellish.
Hi Mefi’s,
Going anonymous because I know work colleagues read this site.
Here’s my problem. Just started a new job a few months ago at a top notch web design agency. Parts of it I’m loving, but major chunks of it are hellish. I’m an interaction designer at this job – basically the person who’s documenting the interactions on the web site.
For the sake of brevity I’ll give you the point form pro’s and con’s. Apologies if this is long – as I’m posting anonymously I’m going to try and fill in details where I can:
Pros:
- I genuinely like my coworkers. Regardless of what’s going on, they’re incredibly talented, and under the right stress-free circumstances do some amazing work. Not just the graphic designers – everyone works hard. As a result, there is a sense of camaraderie, which is priceless to me in a work place. I’m very much a team player, and am really impressed with my colleagues both personally and professionally
- The ‘practicalities’ are great – location is fine, pay is great, don’t really have to work weekends, etc, get to travel occasionally, etc..
- The place will look good on my resume (so I’ve been told).
- People seem satisfied with the work I’m doing.
Cons:
These are semi-serious in my books – this is what I need help figuring out.
- Although people are satisfied with what I do, I’m increasingly feeling like I have no freakin’ clue how to do this. It’s a large ‘winging it’ component – I know web sites don’t always have huge functional specs, but I’m starting to stress out because I’m giving no materials to work with – basically a web site that needs a makeover, and no direction. Heck, I’d even appreciate a list of features (“make it like YouTube”) – at least I’d know what they’d mean. Instead it’s ‘push pixels around – client seems happy with what you’re doing – shut up and take a pay check’. Often no competitive analysis, often reverse engineering – we do strategic work after I come in to start mapping things out in the UI, which looks to be a wrong way to do it.
- Completely disorganized in parts. I know we’re all creative types, but no Intranet, no processes in place, few things documented, everything changes from client to client. Everything is living in people’s email boxes – in order to find anything, you have to email the entire company to request samples of previous work. The company’s been around at least 10 years – to be this disorganized and able to get ANY good work done astounds me.
- Head office (we’re a regional office) and immediate superiors are extremely hands-off. I literally have to beg them via multiple emails to pay attention to client problems that I see down the pipeline. My immediate supervisor is too busy doing his own client work – he spends 90% of the time doing the same kind of work as me for clients, and only 10% managing, if that. Needless to say I don’t see any room for advancement. I don’t even really feel comfortable bringing it up with my supervisor, since I’ll just look ‘weak’.
- Weird projects. I don’t mean ‘weird clients’ and ‘weird artsy work’ – more like ‘the sales staff sells them something, and so far half way through all my projects the client either pulls out of the contract out of lack of interest, has a major corporate reshuffle’, etc. I’ve only been there 2 months, but I’ve done some extensive research on the side with various coworkers, and this is apparently very common around here. We deal with a lot of big multinational corporations, but at some point something along the line gets muddled – we get paid, but what we deliver at the end often looks radically different than what we sold – over budget, over time, etc. etc. The project managers know this and are panicked; by the time it gets down to me, I have ridiculously short timelines (“design a UI for this page in a day”) and heavy duty stress.
- Wishy washy clients. Ok, I said they weren’t weird – more like we don’t stand up to them. Our team members don’t chase down the clients – we’ll sit literally for 3 weeks waiting for a client call. Things that raise a flag with me – like no executive sponsorship and no single point of contact we’ll be dealing with, general client unenthusiasm for what we’re doing, no one in sales explaining what it is we’re building for them – these would make me worry. It feels like I’m the only one worrying. I gently voice my concerns – “hey guys, I’m a little worried we haven’t gotten information” and get a bit of the ‘tut tut, it’s just this client, don’t worry we’ll find you a fun project soon’.
The thing that hopefully switches this question from a ‘woe is me’ question to more of a ‘help me figure out if this is agency life’ question is that – I’ve never been at an agency, and want to know if this is par for the course. I’ve heard people in my field be dismissive of agencies, but want to know more what others think. At the beginning I though agency meant ‘fast-paced web, film, animation creative firm’; now I’m beginning to wonder if agency actually means ‘get the job done by whatever means necessary, including the sanity of its employees’. I don’t know if it’s ‘I’m not cut out for an agency firm’ or ‘I’m not cut out for design’.
The fact that I’m dreaming about the work, the work place and posting to AskMe has me starting to worry. What do you think – is agency life always this hard? Is it just this company? Should I just go elsewhere? Are there benefits to agency life, other than ‘full time paying job”.
Hi Mefi’s,
Going anonymous because I know work colleagues read this site.
Here’s my problem. Just started a new job a few months ago at a top notch web design agency. Parts of it I’m loving, but major chunks of it are hellish. I’m an interaction designer at this job – basically the person who’s documenting the interactions on the web site.
For the sake of brevity I’ll give you the point form pro’s and con’s. Apologies if this is long – as I’m posting anonymously I’m going to try and fill in details where I can:
Pros:
- I genuinely like my coworkers. Regardless of what’s going on, they’re incredibly talented, and under the right stress-free circumstances do some amazing work. Not just the graphic designers – everyone works hard. As a result, there is a sense of camaraderie, which is priceless to me in a work place. I’m very much a team player, and am really impressed with my colleagues both personally and professionally
- The ‘practicalities’ are great – location is fine, pay is great, don’t really have to work weekends, etc, get to travel occasionally, etc..
- The place will look good on my resume (so I’ve been told).
- People seem satisfied with the work I’m doing.
Cons:
These are semi-serious in my books – this is what I need help figuring out.
- Although people are satisfied with what I do, I’m increasingly feeling like I have no freakin’ clue how to do this. It’s a large ‘winging it’ component – I know web sites don’t always have huge functional specs, but I’m starting to stress out because I’m giving no materials to work with – basically a web site that needs a makeover, and no direction. Heck, I’d even appreciate a list of features (“make it like YouTube”) – at least I’d know what they’d mean. Instead it’s ‘push pixels around – client seems happy with what you’re doing – shut up and take a pay check’. Often no competitive analysis, often reverse engineering – we do strategic work after I come in to start mapping things out in the UI, which looks to be a wrong way to do it.
- Completely disorganized in parts. I know we’re all creative types, but no Intranet, no processes in place, few things documented, everything changes from client to client. Everything is living in people’s email boxes – in order to find anything, you have to email the entire company to request samples of previous work. The company’s been around at least 10 years – to be this disorganized and able to get ANY good work done astounds me.
- Head office (we’re a regional office) and immediate superiors are extremely hands-off. I literally have to beg them via multiple emails to pay attention to client problems that I see down the pipeline. My immediate supervisor is too busy doing his own client work – he spends 90% of the time doing the same kind of work as me for clients, and only 10% managing, if that. Needless to say I don’t see any room for advancement. I don’t even really feel comfortable bringing it up with my supervisor, since I’ll just look ‘weak’.
- Weird projects. I don’t mean ‘weird clients’ and ‘weird artsy work’ – more like ‘the sales staff sells them something, and so far half way through all my projects the client either pulls out of the contract out of lack of interest, has a major corporate reshuffle’, etc. I’ve only been there 2 months, but I’ve done some extensive research on the side with various coworkers, and this is apparently very common around here. We deal with a lot of big multinational corporations, but at some point something along the line gets muddled – we get paid, but what we deliver at the end often looks radically different than what we sold – over budget, over time, etc. etc. The project managers know this and are panicked; by the time it gets down to me, I have ridiculously short timelines (“design a UI for this page in a day”) and heavy duty stress.
- Wishy washy clients. Ok, I said they weren’t weird – more like we don’t stand up to them. Our team members don’t chase down the clients – we’ll sit literally for 3 weeks waiting for a client call. Things that raise a flag with me – like no executive sponsorship and no single point of contact we’ll be dealing with, general client unenthusiasm for what we’re doing, no one in sales explaining what it is we’re building for them – these would make me worry. It feels like I’m the only one worrying. I gently voice my concerns – “hey guys, I’m a little worried we haven’t gotten information” and get a bit of the ‘tut tut, it’s just this client, don’t worry we’ll find you a fun project soon’.
The thing that hopefully switches this question from a ‘woe is me’ question to more of a ‘help me figure out if this is agency life’ question is that – I’ve never been at an agency, and want to know if this is par for the course. I’ve heard people in my field be dismissive of agencies, but want to know more what others think. At the beginning I though agency meant ‘fast-paced web, film, animation creative firm’; now I’m beginning to wonder if agency actually means ‘get the job done by whatever means necessary, including the sanity of its employees’. I don’t know if it’s ‘I’m not cut out for an agency firm’ or ‘I’m not cut out for design’.
The fact that I’m dreaming about the work, the work place and posting to AskMe has me starting to worry. What do you think – is agency life always this hard? Is it just this company? Should I just go elsewhere? Are there benefits to agency life, other than ‘full time paying job”.
My input may not be relevant to your situation, since I am a designer in a small town working at a small graphic design firm with local clients. I don't even know what an interaction designer does, so there you go.
For lack of a better way of saying it, you are way overthinking things. A lot of business is doing things by the seat of your pants and hoping they work out. For the most part, they will. Frankly, I think your assessment of "get the job done by whatever means necessary" is a lot closer to the truth than the romanticized notions about the "fast-paced creative firm" you seem to be carrying.
I can certainly identify with your complaints about wishy washy and non-responsive clients; I have two small web site projects on my desk that I have been working on for well over a year. Most of the time, I'll do some design work, email them, and wait three months to hear back. These are small sites that I could do literally in one week or less, but the project's dragged on for a year. It's really not a big deal to me as long as we get paid.
My take on the clients waiting three weeks to call you: you need to adjust your attitude. I can certainly understand wanting to get things done and off your desk, but you are not the center of their lives or their business. You are working for them; they are not working for you. If you want to politely nudge them, that's fine, but many times I don't because I'm busy and assume they are, too.
Perhaps I'm cynical after doing design for ten years, but when I reach a certain point with a client where they've irritated me or pushed me with the tenth or fifteenth round of picky revisions that could have been addressed five rounds ago, I just turn off my brain, put my head down and get the job done to their satisfaction. It's really not my place to "stand up to them" because they're paying me.
There are times clients are paying you to use your creative abilities to their fullest extent, and there are times clients are paying you to be a workhorse and just get the job done with a minimum of fuss. The sooner you are able to master making the shift from creative artist to workhorse (and knowing which approach to use with what client), the happier you will be.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:29 PM on October 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
For lack of a better way of saying it, you are way overthinking things. A lot of business is doing things by the seat of your pants and hoping they work out. For the most part, they will. Frankly, I think your assessment of "get the job done by whatever means necessary" is a lot closer to the truth than the romanticized notions about the "fast-paced creative firm" you seem to be carrying.
I can certainly identify with your complaints about wishy washy and non-responsive clients; I have two small web site projects on my desk that I have been working on for well over a year. Most of the time, I'll do some design work, email them, and wait three months to hear back. These are small sites that I could do literally in one week or less, but the project's dragged on for a year. It's really not a big deal to me as long as we get paid.
My take on the clients waiting three weeks to call you: you need to adjust your attitude. I can certainly understand wanting to get things done and off your desk, but you are not the center of their lives or their business. You are working for them; they are not working for you. If you want to politely nudge them, that's fine, but many times I don't because I'm busy and assume they are, too.
Perhaps I'm cynical after doing design for ten years, but when I reach a certain point with a client where they've irritated me or pushed me with the tenth or fifteenth round of picky revisions that could have been addressed five rounds ago, I just turn off my brain, put my head down and get the job done to their satisfaction. It's really not my place to "stand up to them" because they're paying me.
There are times clients are paying you to use your creative abilities to their fullest extent, and there are times clients are paying you to be a workhorse and just get the job done with a minimum of fuss. The sooner you are able to master making the shift from creative artist to workhorse (and knowing which approach to use with what client), the happier you will be.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:29 PM on October 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
Some of the things you mention are normal: lack of requirements, last minute work, seat of the pants, etc. "Fast paced" means you have/get to figure it out as you go along. Buy a copy of Where The Suckers Moon and read all about why ad agency guys are notorious for getting ulcers.
Other things sound very wrong. Three weeks between client check-ins? Some places have projects that last that long, start to finish. I get antsy when I haven't spoken to a client in one week, and I've never ever heard of a project harmed by too much communication. I'm not surprised your clients are fading away - they don't hear from you, get bored, and move on.
If it's important for your resume, then stick with it for a while, learn what you can, and don't let it get to you.
posted by migurski at 6:24 PM on October 13, 2007
Other things sound very wrong. Three weeks between client check-ins? Some places have projects that last that long, start to finish. I get antsy when I haven't spoken to a client in one week, and I've never ever heard of a project harmed by too much communication. I'm not surprised your clients are fading away - they don't hear from you, get bored, and move on.
If it's important for your resume, then stick with it for a while, learn what you can, and don't let it get to you.
posted by migurski at 6:24 PM on October 13, 2007
Please, find a way to get out.
That's one way to handle it. Just so you don't head for the hills without considering it, though, let me say:
It sounds like what this place really needs is for someone to step up and get the damn management done. And who better than an internal person who has a good sense of what the problems are, and at least a vague sense of what to do about them?
If you try to step into that role, one of two things will probably happen: the current crappy management will feel threatened and kick you to the curb, or they will have an epiphany and realize that you're really helping the firm and promote you, pay you, and hold onto you forever.
If you have any interest in sticking around this place long-term, it might be worth trying to tackle some of these problems yourself. Upper level management really really likes people who "think like an owner" or whatever the current buzzword is, and try to fix problems instead of complaining about or running away from them.
Anyway, I'm not a career coach and I'm certainly not your boss, so I hope this doesn't come off like a pep talk; it just seems like it would be so easy for you to excel in this situation.
posted by rkent at 6:35 PM on October 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
That's one way to handle it. Just so you don't head for the hills without considering it, though, let me say:
It sounds like what this place really needs is for someone to step up and get the damn management done. And who better than an internal person who has a good sense of what the problems are, and at least a vague sense of what to do about them?
If you try to step into that role, one of two things will probably happen: the current crappy management will feel threatened and kick you to the curb, or they will have an epiphany and realize that you're really helping the firm and promote you, pay you, and hold onto you forever.
If you have any interest in sticking around this place long-term, it might be worth trying to tackle some of these problems yourself. Upper level management really really likes people who "think like an owner" or whatever the current buzzword is, and try to fix problems instead of complaining about or running away from them.
Anyway, I'm not a career coach and I'm certainly not your boss, so I hope this doesn't come off like a pep talk; it just seems like it would be so easy for you to excel in this situation.
posted by rkent at 6:35 PM on October 13, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm an interaction designer, and a veteran in the industry. I've worked for a handful of agencies over the years, in a couple of different countries. Sorry to say, it sounds like yours isn't a good one. Here are the red flags I noted from your post:
- No process
- No feature lists
- No research component (competitive analysis, business objectives, long-term strategic goals)
- Insufficient management and insufficient support from management
- Perpetually unrealistic timelines
All of this points to a lack of respect for the work itself. Simply put, you really want to work in an environment where people are in a lot more control over what goes on, and the agencies that really have their shit together know that when you have that much control over what goes on, the end product is much, much better, and much more consistent.
Unfortunately, in my experience there are many more agencies out there that don't understand that than ones that do. Many agencies work under the premise that they'll look great on your resume, so it doesn't matter how poorly they treat you because there will always be plenty of people eager to take your place. They have high burnout, and high churn rates.
I should point out that it's NOT a red flag to me that you feel like a lot of your job is "winging it". Let me explain. IxD is still a very new field, and is very much still struggling to find its identity.
Historically companies (agencies included) have defined the role to include tasks and responsibilities suited to the person or people they had on staff when they learned it was a discipline separate from visual design. In other words, we all used to be called "designers", but folks like you and I would get the "brainy" or complex projects. When Interaction Design became a title, companies looked at us as examples, and created job descriptions based on what we do.
So at one company IxD might include strategic work, or user research, or page-level specs of interaction controls and behaviors, or usability testing, or all of the above; at another company IxD might just be information architecture.
Things still aren't standardized, and I've found that the lack of standardization has benefited me in terms of the range of work I get to try my hand at, and in terms of the quality of the work I've been able to contribute to. To a certain extent, we really do want to start with a blank canvas for every client, because we want to consider the problems we're solving for them with fresh eyes. When you start re-using past work too easily, the job gets boring and the quality of work goes down.
Having been in your situation, it's not that bad to do some time in a sweatshop-style agency. You learn time management, you learn from your mistakes and others', and you find ways to do good work under circumstances that aren't ideal. All of these skills will come in handy for the rest of your career. In fact, you can't really be a Sr. Interaction Designer without the ability to "put out fires" and know how to distinguish real fires from issues that should be handled upstream from you.
Consider your time at this agency the school of hard knocks, and learn what you can. My email address is in my profile if you'd like to talk further.
posted by nadise at 7:23 PM on October 13, 2007
- No process
- No feature lists
- No research component (competitive analysis, business objectives, long-term strategic goals)
- Insufficient management and insufficient support from management
- Perpetually unrealistic timelines
All of this points to a lack of respect for the work itself. Simply put, you really want to work in an environment where people are in a lot more control over what goes on, and the agencies that really have their shit together know that when you have that much control over what goes on, the end product is much, much better, and much more consistent.
Unfortunately, in my experience there are many more agencies out there that don't understand that than ones that do. Many agencies work under the premise that they'll look great on your resume, so it doesn't matter how poorly they treat you because there will always be plenty of people eager to take your place. They have high burnout, and high churn rates.
I should point out that it's NOT a red flag to me that you feel like a lot of your job is "winging it". Let me explain. IxD is still a very new field, and is very much still struggling to find its identity.
Historically companies (agencies included) have defined the role to include tasks and responsibilities suited to the person or people they had on staff when they learned it was a discipline separate from visual design. In other words, we all used to be called "designers", but folks like you and I would get the "brainy" or complex projects. When Interaction Design became a title, companies looked at us as examples, and created job descriptions based on what we do.
So at one company IxD might include strategic work, or user research, or page-level specs of interaction controls and behaviors, or usability testing, or all of the above; at another company IxD might just be information architecture.
Things still aren't standardized, and I've found that the lack of standardization has benefited me in terms of the range of work I get to try my hand at, and in terms of the quality of the work I've been able to contribute to. To a certain extent, we really do want to start with a blank canvas for every client, because we want to consider the problems we're solving for them with fresh eyes. When you start re-using past work too easily, the job gets boring and the quality of work goes down.
Having been in your situation, it's not that bad to do some time in a sweatshop-style agency. You learn time management, you learn from your mistakes and others', and you find ways to do good work under circumstances that aren't ideal. All of these skills will come in handy for the rest of your career. In fact, you can't really be a Sr. Interaction Designer without the ability to "put out fires" and know how to distinguish real fires from issues that should be handled upstream from you.
Consider your time at this agency the school of hard knocks, and learn what you can. My email address is in my profile if you'd like to talk further.
posted by nadise at 7:23 PM on October 13, 2007
I started a new graphics job a month and a half ago and can relate to your problems. There are better jobs out there for sure and I believe that people deserve to be happy in their job -or at least respected to a certain degree. You're going to have to decide - either you can't deal with the frustrations that this job offers or you need to discover if you have it in you to step up and do what you can to make this job better.
First question - who told you this job would be a resume booster? The people who hired you? Maybe it would be wise to do a little research and find out what the company's reputation really is and make judgements based on that.
As far as your other cons, they might not be as unusual as you think. That doesn't mean they are acceptable, though.
Wishy washy clients are very common. Checking in with them regularly, however, is essential. Projects change rapidly (and almost always go over budget). This is because the marketing folks who commissioned the project are likely still tweaking their campaign, even as the project is to press or testing to go to web.
Stress is also a fact of life. I often got the "do this in a day" projects, even at my good jobs. This is what happens when you have a sales force who refuse to say no to a client, even when accomplishing what the client wants is impossible.
The best way to fight this kind of job stress is to try and do something about it. Suggest to your managers ways that they can improve workflow so that the project gets to you in time. Put together a plan for a new network setup. Your supervisors need this kind of input - they probably don't see all the problems you see and if they do, it's likely not something they know how to fix.
Also, the art team needs to educate the sales team as to what can and cannot be delivered in a certain amount of time. One of the most frustrating points of my job is dealing with a sales team that is rather inept.
On preview, I think rkent has it. This is your opportunity to step up. If you can, "become" the manager. At my job, I've basically been telling my boss how to run the company - someone had to! They appreciate my "ideas" and have even started to implement them. At review time, this might be your chance to ask for a substantial raise.
I recommend giving it a little more time and talking with some of the older, more experienced designers around that may have worked in several different environments. If there is no one like that, that could be a bad sign - perhaps all the experienced people left because they recognized that the situation was beyond repair!
Anyway, you may find yourself a lot happier or at least a little stressed if you try to test your boundaries and make/suggest improvements. If this is impossible, then I don't know what else you can do. I do wish you the best of luck, though.
If you're curious, I am actually quitting my job. There are a lot of strange things happening at my company, though.
posted by bristolcat at 7:32 PM on October 13, 2007
First question - who told you this job would be a resume booster? The people who hired you? Maybe it would be wise to do a little research and find out what the company's reputation really is and make judgements based on that.
As far as your other cons, they might not be as unusual as you think. That doesn't mean they are acceptable, though.
Wishy washy clients are very common. Checking in with them regularly, however, is essential. Projects change rapidly (and almost always go over budget). This is because the marketing folks who commissioned the project are likely still tweaking their campaign, even as the project is to press or testing to go to web.
Stress is also a fact of life. I often got the "do this in a day" projects, even at my good jobs. This is what happens when you have a sales force who refuse to say no to a client, even when accomplishing what the client wants is impossible.
The best way to fight this kind of job stress is to try and do something about it. Suggest to your managers ways that they can improve workflow so that the project gets to you in time. Put together a plan for a new network setup. Your supervisors need this kind of input - they probably don't see all the problems you see and if they do, it's likely not something they know how to fix.
Also, the art team needs to educate the sales team as to what can and cannot be delivered in a certain amount of time. One of the most frustrating points of my job is dealing with a sales team that is rather inept.
On preview, I think rkent has it. This is your opportunity to step up. If you can, "become" the manager. At my job, I've basically been telling my boss how to run the company - someone had to! They appreciate my "ideas" and have even started to implement them. At review time, this might be your chance to ask for a substantial raise.
I recommend giving it a little more time and talking with some of the older, more experienced designers around that may have worked in several different environments. If there is no one like that, that could be a bad sign - perhaps all the experienced people left because they recognized that the situation was beyond repair!
Anyway, you may find yourself a lot happier or at least a little stressed if you try to test your boundaries and make/suggest improvements. If this is impossible, then I don't know what else you can do. I do wish you the best of luck, though.
If you're curious, I am actually quitting my job. There are a lot of strange things happening at my company, though.
posted by bristolcat at 7:32 PM on October 13, 2007
No matter where you go, these are the results of poor management. Creative careers are usually fairly chaotic (as chaotic as creativity itself), but there's no excuse for outright stupidity.
posted by SpecialK at 8:31 PM on October 13, 2007
posted by SpecialK at 8:31 PM on October 13, 2007
I have no experience in this field whatsoever, and so I can't give you any specific advice at all.
But I can give you some general tips. What you're facing is very common in young, high-tech companies. You don't really know what your job is, and neither do they. That means you get to invent it yourself. This could be a tremendous opportunity for you. Problems are best fixed by the people who see them, and it sounds like you're seeing plenty.
What I'd suggest would be to write up a list of all the things you think need doing/fixing. Pick the top two or three, write up project plans, including business cases for why they're important, and try to get at least one of them approved. Grab it and run; make SURE that project comes through with flying colors. Then proceed down your list, and try to always have two or three ideas available, letting your bosses pick what they like best.
If they're not interested in anything you're saying, then try to gently poke around to find out why... could be that you've picked three bad things, or it could be that they don't want you being too proactive. In that case, just shrug and do what you're told; even in that case, you can still focus mostly on what interests you, I suspect.
Overall, it's a great opportunity, both for you and for them... now you just need to communicate that. :)
posted by Malor at 10:26 PM on October 13, 2007
But I can give you some general tips. What you're facing is very common in young, high-tech companies. You don't really know what your job is, and neither do they. That means you get to invent it yourself. This could be a tremendous opportunity for you. Problems are best fixed by the people who see them, and it sounds like you're seeing plenty.
What I'd suggest would be to write up a list of all the things you think need doing/fixing. Pick the top two or three, write up project plans, including business cases for why they're important, and try to get at least one of them approved. Grab it and run; make SURE that project comes through with flying colors. Then proceed down your list, and try to always have two or three ideas available, letting your bosses pick what they like best.
If they're not interested in anything you're saying, then try to gently poke around to find out why... could be that you've picked three bad things, or it could be that they don't want you being too proactive. In that case, just shrug and do what you're told; even in that case, you can still focus mostly on what interests you, I suspect.
Overall, it's a great opportunity, both for you and for them... now you just need to communicate that. :)
posted by Malor at 10:26 PM on October 13, 2007
It sounds like, at root, your office's problems fall under the heading "division of labor, lack thereof." Do you have an IT guy? He should have set up a centralized server where all your files live. Do you have a studio manager? She should have set up and be enforcing formalized procedures for all sort stuff, like
nagging people to keep their files on the server, with the appropriate file nomenclature and hierarchy. Also job templates, that sort of thing. Do you have AEs? They should be bringing home jobs with reasonably detailed specs (if the clients had to produce detailed specs up front, there might be less wishying and washying down the road, since they'd have to think about what they were getting into).
I wonder if your local office was started by someone who had distinguished himself as a designer at the head office, but had no managerial skills, and didn't put good operating patterns in place.
It's not your job to fix these systemic problems unless the head of your local office promotes you to a senior position (which won't happen immediately) and you get buy-in from your co-workers (which also won't happen immediately, even if you are really good at leading people). So decide whether you want to hang in there to become a manager, or look at it as a resume builder and stick around just long enough so that you don't look like a flake.
posted by adamrice at 3:40 PM on October 14, 2007
nagging people to keep their files on the server, with the appropriate file nomenclature and hierarchy. Also job templates, that sort of thing. Do you have AEs? They should be bringing home jobs with reasonably detailed specs (if the clients had to produce detailed specs up front, there might be less wishying and washying down the road, since they'd have to think about what they were getting into).
I wonder if your local office was started by someone who had distinguished himself as a designer at the head office, but had no managerial skills, and didn't put good operating patterns in place.
It's not your job to fix these systemic problems unless the head of your local office promotes you to a senior position (which won't happen immediately) and you get buy-in from your co-workers (which also won't happen immediately, even if you are really good at leading people). So decide whether you want to hang in there to become a manager, or look at it as a resume builder and stick around just long enough so that you don't look like a flake.
posted by adamrice at 3:40 PM on October 14, 2007
Just to be clear: I'm not advising mindless fleeing. But there are a handful of agencies that use the phrase 'interaction designer'--I worked at one--so the field of contenders is very, very narrow. If this person works where I think they do, their best choice is to get out.
posted by gsh at 4:54 PM on October 14, 2007
posted by gsh at 4:54 PM on October 14, 2007
What Nadise says sounds good.
I work in-house, so may not have as much insight into agency work, but what you're describing does not sound like typical healthy interaction design work.
It's ok to feel like you're winging it and it's ok to adjust your methods and process to the project and client.
It's not ok to have no requirements, unrealistic client expectations, and bad communication between sales, product management and you.
You need:
- someone to do project management and client management. someone not from sales. they don't care about you.
- user needs research to help inform your design
- to educate your coworkers about interaction design and set realistic expectations (i.e. Designing IA, task flows, page flows, and overall experience, which can take a whole lot of time. It's not laying out a page in a day)
posted by bumpybear at 10:18 PM on October 15, 2007
I work in-house, so may not have as much insight into agency work, but what you're describing does not sound like typical healthy interaction design work.
It's ok to feel like you're winging it and it's ok to adjust your methods and process to the project and client.
It's not ok to have no requirements, unrealistic client expectations, and bad communication between sales, product management and you.
You need:
- someone to do project management and client management. someone not from sales. they don't care about you.
- user needs research to help inform your design
- to educate your coworkers about interaction design and set realistic expectations (i.e. Designing IA, task flows, page flows, and overall experience, which can take a whole lot of time. It's not laying out a page in a day)
posted by bumpybear at 10:18 PM on October 15, 2007
- I know web sites don’t always have huge functional specs, but I’m starting to stress out because I’m giving no materials to work with...
Can you give your clients a questionnaire to find out about their requirements? I found some examples: 1, 2, 3, 4. I never start a project without one.
- Completely disorganized in parts
Ask your boss to use Basecamp and Highrise. They are not expensive and might help a lot to keep track of projects and clients.
- Wishy washy clients
In my experience, that's really common, specially in web design. Is there a chance to specify the number of revisions in the contract?
posted by clearlydemon at 7:19 AM on October 16, 2007
Can you give your clients a questionnaire to find out about their requirements? I found some examples: 1, 2, 3, 4. I never start a project without one.
- Completely disorganized in parts
Ask your boss to use Basecamp and Highrise. They are not expensive and might help a lot to keep track of projects and clients.
- Wishy washy clients
In my experience, that's really common, specially in web design. Is there a chance to specify the number of revisions in the contract?
posted by clearlydemon at 7:19 AM on October 16, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
As an IA/IxD, it is completely insane to try and do work without any kind of requirements. Please, find a way to get out. Drop me a line if you'd like some help in that area.
posted by gsh at 5:27 PM on October 13, 2007