17Mar

8 Questions You Should Ask on Every Project

In Question Your Work, Jason Fried lists 8 questions to ask yourself (or your team) when you work on something.

This concept of questioning what you are doing is especially relevant to the arena of web design, which is notorious (in my experience) for having few — if any — criteria for success and for not asking these questions.

The questions Jason lists are:

Why are we doing this?
What problem are we solving?
Is this actually useful?
Are we adding value?
Will this change behavior?
Is there an easier way?
What's the opportunity cost?
Is it really worth it?

Some of these questions seem pretty obvious, but I can assure you that more often than not they have not been asked. Or, if they've been asked they have not been fully answered.

I can recall plenty of web projects where the criteria for success was "getting it done."

Often I've been able to tie the project back to relevant business objectives by writing a creative brief and forcing the client to clearly outline the goals of the project.

However, there have been times — when I've been brought on to a project after it's started and the deadline is looming — where the direction has been set and you don't have time to ask these questions.

All you can do is get the web site/application live within the timeframe and do the best you can. It's pretty disheartening.

So, the next time you start a web project, or are brought into one that's already in progress, or are well into a project that you have started, ask some or all of these questions — it might not be too late to change tack.

Posted on: March 17, 2008 | 9 Comments

9 Comments Posted

Thanks for pointing this out, Christian. I'm needing to learn all I can, and having to learn fast. Advice like this is a great help.

1. Posted by Armen on March 18, 2008

Good post! I'm an instructional design student in North Carolina and we learn the front end analysis techniques that cover these questions - not nearly as clearly, however.

Specifically, I look for 'what is' and 'what should be', and then align my interventions (websites, instructional units, job aids, etc.) to bridge or eliminate that gap.

Without practice and experience, it's easy to forget the purpose. Or when project constraints, like time, force us to 'just get it done'.

2. Posted by Newman on March 19, 2008

I think the questions you pointed out are excellent to address before the project starts, but as you mentioned, often times folks get brought in and the ship is already set on course.

A couple of things that can result from not answering the questions at the beginning include:

1. Scope creep
2. Building something that works for what customers said they needed, as opposed to what will actually get used.
3. Missed market opportunities (focusing on the wrong demographics, the wrong value proposition, etc).

Do you have any advice on how to get the best possible result even after there is already momentum?

3. Posted by Cory von Wallenstein on March 20, 2008

These are good questions and as a copywriter, I think they're salient to any part of of the commercial creative process. But like you say, so often is the case that you're not given time to ask yourself and answer these questions - such is the nature of the working for somebody else beast.
Great pointers.

4. Posted by Web Design UK on March 20, 2008

Excellent post, I do agree that careful planning and a purpose to your website is vital in order to succeed. There are millions of sites out there. If you dont have a purpose then you are wasting your time.

5. Posted by James on March 20, 2008

Great list. The next logical list would be a step before this one. In my daily life as a Java Enterprise Developer, I interact directly with the end-users, from the Customer Service Rep all the way up to the CEO. So I guess I would need a more polished or political list. Then use your list with the techies.

Kind Regards,
Tom Pridham
Land O Lakes, FL

6. Posted by Tom Pridham on March 21, 2008

Cory — that is a real challenge. I try to ask as many key questions as I can while avoiding dragging the project to a grinding halt.

Otherwise you end up looking like you're an obstacle to the project and you'll be less likely to be included in decisions.

It certainly can be difficult when you're still trying to understand why we're doing something and the other members of the project team are discussing implementation details about 10 steps ahead of you.

I'll often say that I need to report back to my boss about the project and that we have certain deliverables that I need to complete. This gives me an excuse to dig around without seeming to question every decision that has been made so far.

7. Posted by Christian Watson on March 21, 2008

Question 9: Why ask questions as long as it works!

Andrew

Pryde Design

8. Posted by prydie on March 22, 2008

i think these are good questions for anyone in development to ask before the project gets too far down the design faze. maybe if the government used these same questions to ask before jumping into the production of a project we would all be better off.

9. Posted by Sweet Emotions Floral on April 02, 2008