Really a great example you shared, Terry. It leaves us enough room for discussing workflows - the good and the bad.
So let me give it a try:
First things first:
Certainly it doesn’t matter what way of workflow you prefer. Whether “stickers and paper” literally or digital media, not quite important. Much more important is the result - or the way to go. I can only speak of myself. I never was part of a team and never had (as you) the possibility to be part of a field test audience. All my older websites have been heavily based on “artwork”. That’s the field I thought I’m quite comfortable with - and filling the drawings later with some text.
Somehow this worked pretty nice. This is my very first website ever done (about 8 years ago):
The problem I’ve encountered was, that I was very happy during this process. But after finalizing it, I’ve had half a mind to start it from scratch. But I never had a real explanation of the “why”. Because it happened with nearby all following projects. Today, I can just have a vague guess, but I think it had much to do with this pixel-perfect thinking. All those projects heavily depended on the “designer”. No room left for an author or editor. All my stuff was artsy fartsy thinking.
So when I speak today of content (king) first, it’s not just jabbering - it’s the result of old mistakes. All this fully bloated color stuff is somehow redundant. I even read somewhere, that a bog-standard visitor doesn’t “see” the design. He only scans the page - trying to figure out informations as quick as possible. I think I made them hard times to do.
The GOV project
I think, that a government project is one of the hardest job in web-design. I often thought about it, cause everyone has a hometown and therefor a good chance to judge how “well or not well done” they are. All I can say is, that you have to consider all - literally. Usability, Operability, Clarity, Design and whatever. And finally - after you thought making everything correct, there are those nitpicker - often enough part of the government declaring it as crap. Something like:
“My brother-in-law is doing web design as well. He makes super DRUPAL stuff and he would be twice the better.”
I certainly can’t judge the Iowa-City project. Because I’m not living there and I can’t compare it to the old one.
But there is something telling me, that if something’s wrong, it had to do with “conversation” between the client and the team. Something like: The team wanted to … but client rejected". Or perhaps the other way round?
Pricing
In very rare cases, we’ll have a chance to talk about this. Personally I’d say, it sounds fair. Assumed those 10 guys realized it in 4 weeks (not realistic) - it’ll mean 5k each before tax on their pay check.
What makes a better workflow
All I can do is to recommend having a read of Mike Monteiro’s books “Design is a Job” and “You’re my favorite client”. Seek for his talks on Vimeo or YouTube as well. He sounds sometimes uncouth and in a know-it-all manner. But he has as well this lovely subtle humor. I’m pretty sure you’ll think “What the heck is this guy talking about”. But it is great. It will influence your workflow sustainably - it probably change your entire attitudes.
This might be a good representative of what I meant:
It’s just a small part of a huge and valuable discussion and I hope, that this all is part of the OP’s topic and comes up to his and some (or most) other Pinegrow user’s expectation. It’s written for sucking out the best of it (and not a glossing something over (whatever it will mean)). It’s easy sitting behind bushes firing from there.
Cheers
Thomas
I thought you would see the parallel regarding what we discussed before, I felt it was a good example of said previous discussion above. But I digress.
) as they have done with Atom editor. It was mentioned an age back, but never happened. I can only use ST at the moment but its all set up nice 