Creatives Run Amok in the Land of Flash
An exciting, nervous hairball of a day arrived. A day of suits, curled hair, eye makeup, clean nails, and quirky, irresistible Web Consultants paired with Corporate Titans.
Heads held high, swallowing the nerves, the crew of “internet experts” strode confident. Slow-motion in their mind’s eye, moving past endless cubes, taking in the smells of coffee and fresh paint from their client’s recent office remodeling. Now breaching the door of a cavernous conference room, filled with about 30 Corporate stakeholders, their first job begins.
The Schmooze
Creating an inclusive sense belonging through well-designed camaraderie, they start with laughs. Light entertainment, leading into the “Dog And Pony Show”. Marketing Mavens, the Corporate Communications contingent, even IT — the contract owners — started to loosen up in minutes.
“Dim All the Lights, Sweet Darlin'”
The projector glow lights up Paris, The Creative Director. Presentation at the ready, she takes the reigns and the Circus begins. The Project Manager at her flank knows: this web design presentation could make or break the entire project… and budget… if it missed the mark with this picky Corporate crowd.
But in minutes they knew. The Creative was spot on — capturing the pure spirit and heritage of this historic soft drink conglomerate.
Every brand stood gorgeously presented.
This corporate website design fully represented the critical picture that the client wanted to portray to the whole world.
Lush “oohs and ahhs” filled the room.
Mid-table the Project Manager breathed a sigh of relief. She thought: Our first preso to my biggest client so far. Again, I have arrived!
For that moment, the well-hidden nerves drained away. The training drilled into their Consultant heads, at one time seemingly self-absorbed, now suddenly seemed manifest:
We are consultants. We keep our heads high. We offer value. We are to be respected. And, every hour is a billable hour.
Afterglow
At the conclusion of the presentation, the client thoroughly satisfied, the Project Manager chimes in: “We’re so thrilled that you love the design! Let’s talk about next steps. We can begin building the site by tomorro…”
But her sentence would never complete, as Paris pushes in: “But if you really want a great site, you need to use Flash.”
Screeeeeeeeech.
The rubber tires skid, melting into the pavement. The needle is slapped over the grooves. The nails pass down the chalkboard. And now: a full stop halt, of wide and shocked eyes around the table.
“What?” the Corporate Comms lead says. “What is Flash? How so?”
Oh no.
Flames instantly spring from our WWW dumpster.
The Creative Director proceeds to explain: “It’s animation. Every banner on every page could move. Wouldn’t you like to see your little brand character dancing?”
<Hindsight moment>
Flash! Dear God. Of all things! A future self somewhere in another dimension understands that this moment is ridiculous. Because this once-coveted Web 2.0 technology has already met its (decommissioning) maker. Why did we blow up the meeting for FLASH?? But then again — in that moment, everyone just wanted a snazzy website. Sigh.
</Hindsight moment>
“Is it in scope?”, the stern IT lady says.
The IT group Project-Managing on the customer side starts to twitch. They brokered the project and budgeted it, knowing full well that their internal customer, Corp Comms, would be a handful to manage.
The other twitcher in the room, the web agency Project Manager, didn’t know that her Creative Director would become a handful to manage too! Why did this Flash thing not come up in the Internal Review?
It’s the agency Project Manager’s turn, to douse the flame with a big, fat fire extinguisher. With a trace of white froth forming at the corner of her mouth, she states with a wide eye: “No, that’s not currently budgeted in scope.”
Ugh. And so began the…
Bait and Switch.
These words echoed across conference calls for weeks after the presentation. Indeed, straight through to the launch of the project.
Corp Comms ran wild with their Flash demands, given the Creative Director made them feel like they were getting a crap website. Not good enough, without that Flash.
Oh, it was bad. And the agency Delivery Manager pinned it on the one responsible for managing the scope: the Project Manager.
The Moral of the Story
On this day, a phase was forevermore coined: Designers Run Amok. A state of being, when desire for great(ish) design supersedes other project success criteria.
But it wasn’t an us-vs-them. The Project Manager had a design background too, and knew this phenomenon all-too-well. Heck, she even indulged in it herself from time to time.
But when playing a role, moments will arise when you further commit to your path: managing with the business in mind, not just the creative.
And so, live each instance of creative-run-amok as an adventure. And with some luck, preparation, and targeted questions, you might just catch it in the Internal Review, before the client sees.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this and it brightened your day.
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