Back in our first email, we mentioned that the Feedback Process is absolutely essential to giving you the best result that matches your needs. This is a two way street! You need to be able to let us know what you think about any part of the project, for example a particular design section. And we need to be able to do the same, for example on content provided by you. It’s an important process, and as not everyone has had the same experience with it, let’s take a moment to explore some aspects of it in more detail to make it smoother – and hopefully enjoyable!
Creativity
Scientific research (by McKinnon) has identified the essential quality needed to be creative not as a person’s amount of intelligence, but their ability to PLAY. It’s basically playing with ideas, “what-if” this or “what-if” that… no wait, “what about this?!” It’s often about putting simple ideas together in different ways to give a more complex result. So remember, ideas are just ideas, and if we can play with them without judging or getting attached to them, the whole creative process runs smoother.
Collaboration
Creating a website to your needs is undoubtedly a collaborative process. We need to work together to create outlines, briefs, drafts, designs and strategies. This requires that we communicate with each other both honestly and respectfully. When it comes to creating together, this is somewhat a matter of practice. A little tact or diplomacy in communication can usually bridge the gap. In any case, if we can remember ideas are just ideas, we can not get attached to them and that makes it easier to communicate about them at “arms length.”
Brainstorming
Brainstorming and prioritizing is a good example of the collaborative process. Whether it’s for a domain name or logo or site features, we might come up with a whole bunch of ideas and options together. In this part of the process, nothing should be ruled out. It’s just play. And then once we have enough options, we can be selective and prioritize from what we’ve come up with to decide on the best ones to go in the plan for putting into practice. Sometimes you might need to sit with a few options before deciding, and that’s understandable too.
Drafts
Until something is “approved”, it’s best to consider it a “draft”. Even a “final draft” is still a draft. And even then, live content can be reviewed and improved after publishing, it’s just better to do it earlier. Seeing each stage of a piece of content as a “draft version” saves anyone becoming attached to any particular creative aspect or element that’s in there. Instead of taking it personally, we can discuss swapping it out for something else, and focus our attention on what the new and better thing could be.
Bugs and Issues
When there is something not working on your website, this is often called a “bug” or an “error”. For example, if someone can’t use your shopping cart or contact form, that’s a bug that needs urgent attention. There are also design or display issues, which while important, aren’t quite as critical as bugs. For example, if a section of your homepage that doesn’t look good to you for some reason, or the layout is askew on a mobile device, of course that still needs attention, but isn’t quite as urgent. Keeping this distinction in mind can help us to communicate on priorities and non-priorities.
Critical Analysis
Whether it’s planning out features, reflecting on a design draft, or analyzing a target market, critical analysis plays a crucial role. It is the process of sorting out those things which we are satisfied with and unsatisfied with. When expressing criticism, it’s helpful to express both sides: what you DO like first, and then what you don’t. It just makes for a more balanced and positive experience on both ends. Obviously then we continue to discuss in more detail what needs to be changed about what we don’t like, but this practice creates a context of appreciation in which it’s easier to do.
Constructive Criticism
“Constructive” criticism is also a helpful practice in the creative process. This is where you take the initiative of providing alternative suggestions for those things you don’t like. Most of the time, if you give it some thought and/or feeling, there is some kind of inspiration or direction you can offer. This isn’t going to be possible all the time – as inspiration might just not be there yet – and in those cases just be honest that you aren’t sure what would be better. We might have further inspiration or options from our end. With a little more back and forth, we can come up with something that satisfies what’s wanted or needed.
Should vs Could
When communicating creatively, the approach of “could” is always better than “should”… why? It’s more open and gives some leeway for the creative process. Should is more directive and closed. It often tends to mean you have a picture of something already in mind. That’s fine if we’ve already discussed something – it “should” be the way it was decided! But if it’s something as yet undiscussed and undecided, “could” is always going to make communicating easier, as it gives more space for other ideas and inspirations to come forth too.
Expertise
While we do our best to identify provide suggestions that match with what your project and business needs, of course it’s your business and your decision as to what you want to implement! It’s important to remember that you’re hiring us as experts in this field, and we’re in the business of offering our expertise to help you succeed. That doesn’t mean we’re always “right”, but it does tend to mean we’ve probably got some experience and knowledge backing up our suggestions. To a certain degree, you need to trust our expertise, but if something doesn’t make sense, question it so so we can explore it more deeply together.
Recommendations
Where recommendations are aligned with your desired direction, it’s going to be an easy and positive “yes let’s do that!” But if there’s something that isn’t aligned, it’s best not to discard it off-hand either. There are often reasons behind a recommendation that may not be immediately obvious. It’s best to ask and explore these reasons together in light of your goals, because there may be other options that can achieve a similar result in a different way. So when this is the case, we’d simply ask that you communicate what aligns with you and what doesn’t so we can work with you to identify alternative avenues. This is true for development and design, but especially in marketing where you are presenting yourself and/or your business to the world.
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