This idea is definately worth a loonie (Canajun, eh?)..!

I'm think of adding a process of change orders that will require a back to
the drawing board approval.  Change orders have a cost even if they are not
implemented and that needs to be made clear to everyone and must be
indicated in the budget.

I really like your approach of website version 1.0.x

I recently finished a VB project which took 6 months.  When I was close to
handing off to the Accounting dept., I started hearing about things they
wished the new version would do that the old one didn't...  I found that
eveyone was much happier hearing that this functionality could be addressed
in the next version - rather than being told "can't do it - too late!".  I
don't know why their ideas didn't come up in the original specifications,
but sometimes they just don't.

Another area I am interested in exploring is how to allocate responsibility
for the visual design.  We just had a situation where an outside media
company created a visual website design and then the design was turned over
to the corporate web master to execute.

Turns out that the design would be great for print media but difficult to
translate into a successful web design (issues of speed - image carving
ect..)

The communications dept seem to be responsible for corporate image and they
are comfortable with traditional media designers.  

I guess the solution would be to have a best practice that would ensure that
the web master is part of the design team from the beginning.




-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Tom Polk [mailto:jtpolk(at)texas.net]
Sent: 2000/mm/14 1:47 PM
To: hwg-basics(at)mail.hwg.org
Subject: Re: Best Practices for Web Management - let's build it!


My 0.02 cents concerns feature creep.

As one designs a site, one will always find things that were unforseen,
and will have to make a correction or fix...that is a given. You cannot
anticipate everything.

The problem I'm talking about is where after the site is set, and the
final proofing of the content of the site is occuring, everyone starts
having ideas about new features, or features that should have been
added, etc, etc, etc. I'm working on a site where 1/2 of the site is now
in a committee (just formed) that is brainstorming new designs for their
departments.

So far the new features they have come up with are incompatable with 1)
the design of every other page on the site 2) the original intent of the
site, 3) the database that we have set up for the site, and finally 4)
common sense (IMHO).

The departments signed off on the original design, but the coordinator
allowed feature creep to occur.

I strongly suggest that you provide a mechanism from the git-go to
handle this.

I would think something like AFTER everyone signs off to one set of
features, they are set. 

Maybe call it Company Website 1.0.

Then keep the door open by encouraging everyone to start contributing
idea to Company Website 2.0, but to first get Company Website 1.0
working before going to 2.0 or 3.0 or Website 2000!!!!

For instance, with another company's site, we defined immediate goals
(get the company a ''products'' web site), intermediate goals (create
greater interaction by customers in being able to learn about the
company's products) and a long range goal (enabling ordering of product
where company does not have a distribution channel and to funnel product
inquires and orders to distributors where channels currently exist).

While every conference with these clients involves discussions of the
future, they are the future, not now. We have to get the immediate goals
first, and this company understands that. 

The first company does not, and my mind is sagging under all the new
features bubbling up out of the departments to the point where we might
as well scrap the original design and start over.

Hmm, just be able to officially draw a line in the sand.





> I am working on a document for my organization to describe how we should
> manage our web related projects (corporate internet site and intranet
site).

-- 


Jim Tom Polk -:- jtpolk(at)texas.net -:- http://camalott.com/~jtpolk/	
	''You might as well fall flat on your face as 
	  lean over too far backwards.''      --James Thurber--
   "The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three 
          elements: energy, matter and enlightened self-interest." 
 		- G'Kar  "Survivors"

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