how to ensure your web project is a complete failure
DESCRIPTION
Set unrealistic deadlines! Don’t define your intended audience! Refuse to make decisions! Many of the ways you can mess up your new website or redesign are identical to the ways people fumble any endeavor. After years of working with a diverse range of organizations and campaigns we’re here to enthusiastically report on the classic mistakes even the best organizers and communicators make when overseeing major website development (or redevelopment). We’ll hold your sweaty, fearful hand as we walk you through the entire life cycle of website development, ensuring that the end result is as expensive and ineffective as possible.TRANSCRIPT
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How to Ensure Your Web Projectis a
Complete and Total Failurebrought to you by
Aaron Welch
and
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Warning: the following presentation is ironic
It is intended to help you avoid repeating the mistakes that we have seen clients make over the years. Obviously, vendors are also on the hook for making mistakes and doing things that put projects at risk. Hopefully this presentation will help clients be better clients while we all strive to be better vendors on our end.
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #1: Set your launch date before determining scope, budget or production schedule
(bonus! Plan and announce a high profile event that coincides with this date - a gala for example, anything that will be sure
to embarrass you and waste a lot of money if the launch slips)
Section 1: Deadlines
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #2: Start late. For example, for a 6-8 month project timeline, don't start looking for a vendor
until a few months out from launch
(Be sure to lead with this information, vendors *love* working under pressure and will generally give you a price break.)
Section 1: Deadlines
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #3: Once you've set the launch date and any other important milestones related to the project, DO NOT COMMUNICATE THEM TO OTHERS!
(Wait until a week or so beforehand and then send an all-caps email to everyone working on the project about the looming deadline, sure to make heads explode. Perfect!)
Section 1: Deadlines
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #4: If all else fails, move the launch deadline in the last few weeks of a project.
(If the vendor points out something in your agreement to the contrary, tell them you remember discussing this early on on
a phone call and are not sure why they don't remember.)
Section 1: Deadlines
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #1: Do not get help doing requirements gathering to get a budget range. Instead, guess!
(Even better, do all the technical planning yourself, decide how much it is worth, then send out an RFP with a fixed cost.)
Section 2: The Budget
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #2: Lowest bidder wins. Always.
(Seriously, all vendors basically outsource to India anyhow.)
Section 2: The Budget
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #3: DO NOT SHARE YOUR BUDGET
(If vendors know how much you have to spend, then they'll be able to make recommendations that fit that range!)
Section 2: The Budget
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #4: Do not set aside a budget for additional features, post-launch support, or training.
(These services should always be included, but not explicitly outlined in any contract. Vendors assume this is part of any
scope of work, it's like tipping – rude to discuss outright.)
Section 2: The Budget
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #5: Hosting is cheap, the cheaper the better!
($30/mo is more than enough for pretty much any site.Bonus: just ignore hosting until a few days before launch!)
Section 2: The Budget
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #1: Do not select a project lead internally
(Even better, select one who has no experience running similar projects. Bonus: ensure they have another, totally
unrelated full-time job – this project should be a side thing)
Section 3: Project Management
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #2: Do not get sign-off from internal stakeholders as decisions are made
(They are super busy, just show them everything at the end when it's all done and get feedback then.)
Section 3: Project Management
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #3: Rely on your vendor to handle internal communications and decision making
(That's why you are paying for all that “project management” time, which is sort of b.s. anyway. Get your money's worth!)
Section 3: Project Management
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #4: Do not read anything
(Contracts, technical plans, meeting minutes – all busy work designed to pass the buck along to you, don't stand for it!)
Section 3: Project Management
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #1: Pay late and demand the unreasonable
(See how long it takes your vendor to bring up the invoices that are due, and when they do ask about pushing the project team to work weekends and evenings – just see if they will!)
Section 4: Vendor Relations
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #2: Talk about your ex
(Any time you can work into the conversation how much cheaper and/or better the other vendors you talked to were
will ensure the one you have works hard to keep you happy!)
Section 4: Vendor Relations
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #3: Divide and conquer
(Play team members and management against each other by sending email directly to them and not keeping everyone on
the team in the loop. Eventually, you will get free work out of it as they eat each other alive!)
Section 4: Vendor Relations
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
Rule #4: Communications
(Do not read any email, there will be too many, and they are too technical anyway. If you need an update, send an ALL
CAPS EMAIL TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK)
Section 4: Vendor Relations
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How to ensure your web project is a complete and total failureAaron Welch – [email protected]
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