While this concept is straightforward, unfortunately new ideas, collaborators and goals often change the course and timing of the project. Behind the scenes, we refer to this as scope creep. Scope creep refers to unaccounted-for changes in a project’s original scope. This phenomenon can occur when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled. A few hours here and there – next thing you know, 20 hours have been tacked on.

Here are a few strategies for thoroughly planning and defining a project that solve for some of scope creep’s favorite weak spots:

• Creative brief: A creative brief is a document used to develop creative deliverables: visual design, copy, advertising, web sites, etc. Make sure the creative brief is completed before the work begins – especially in advance of copy writing or design. Be sure to review it over the phone or in-person with your client to ensure that all questions are addressed. Check out this workshop from the people at Dare for more information on developing a solid creative brief.
• Role playing: Imagine you are the target audience. What happens next? What information is important? What is left to be desired? Have a colleague that hasn’t worked on the project evaluate it. Make sure that you’re communicating what you intended.
• Call to action (CTA): Determine what you want the audience to do and how you will measure success. Once the audience has reacted according to your CTA, what happens next? Are statistics and metrics needed? Do you want to capture email addresses for an opt-in?
• Q&A: As always, don’t be afraid to ask questions during the planning process. The key from an agency perspective is to provide an insightful question that gets your client thinking. Instead of “What color do you like?” say “Blue is calming and red is action-oriented. What emotion do we want to communicate through our color scheme?” The client will take the time to think through the various options instead of going with a gut reaction that might be second-guessed in the next round of revisions.

While scope creep is inevitable for almost every project, there are steps you can integrate into your workflow that will lessen the blow. Expect that the scope will change and make sure you address this with your client. Some clients may want to pay for these changes as they go in the form of a change order, and others may want you to include room for revisions in the original estimate. If you go with the latter, make sure you clearly define the terms of the revisions that are covered in the original contract.

Key highlights of Gmail

• •  Consistency – Whatever computer I’m on, the status of my email is the same as when I left it. If I have read an email on any computer, it shows up as read the next time I access my email or mobile device. This feature has saved me a tremendous amount of time. Apple mail lacks this level of consistency.
• •  Grouping of emails with the same subject line – I frequently will go back and forth with a colleague on one subject. In Apple mail (and most other mail clients), each email is a separate line item. In Gmail, all my emails get grouped in a single line item. So when I want to go back in time, I just need to find the subject and the whole email chain is in one place.
• •  Multiple labels instead of single folders – Apple mail only allows me to put an email in a single folder. Gmail uses labels instead of folders. I can assign multiple labels to an email and then search any combination of labels to only see those emails that I’m really interested in.
• •  My inbox stays cleaner – Using filters and labels, I can designate select emails to be automatically filed without passing through my inbox. Google’s powerful search capabilities allow me to access multiple labels simultaneously, eliminating my fear of filing emails where I can’t find them. In Apple mail, if I did not remember which folder an email was in, I would not be able to access it.

Multiple Gmail labels and 10 grouped emails in one line.

Like any email solution, Google mail has room for improvement. I would like to see a more user-friendly interface and a more visually differentiated navigation system. In addition, some changes to minimize scrolling would greatly improve the user experience.

No email system can be all things to all people. When it all comes down to it, you need to decide which features are “must haves”. I have found Gmail’s consistency feature to be my “must have,” so I am going to stick with it. If it doesn’t work for you, there are lots of sites that compare email clients. You can start at Wikipedia and go from there.

This phenomenon happens frequently in the design world. For many reasons, designers don’t get all the toys at once and we end up “rearranging” over and over again. Frequently, there are good reasons for this. Usually, there is an assumption that the job will get done more quickly if the designer is given ten percent of the information to “get him/her started.” As the example above illustrates, most of the time, that is not a correct assumption.

Years of experience in the design world have taught me one important truth: if I start a project with the content and information in an organized package, the result is better, the cost is lower and the project is completed more quickly.

What does an organized creative project look like?

• A concise description of intent
• A description of the target audience
• A listing of historic considerations
• A clear definition of the scope of the project.

What does an organized production project look like?

• A clear, detailed description of the project including deliverables, deliverable sizes, and all deliverable attributes.
• A hierarchy of what is the most important down to least important
• All the assets (images, graphics, required fonts, text content) or clear descriptions of stock images to be searched for.
• Any existing corporate brand standards

If the above is presented in an organized package, here is what is gained:

• Time and money savings: The project can be completed much more quickly with less time spent on endless email threads
• A better product: The design does not need to be patched up to squeeze in those last minute items.
• A more creative project: Designers can focus on designing rather than sorting through emails looking for content, etc.
• Happy clients: Clients can move on to other projects, confident that their project will be well designed, on time, on budget.

All this sounds great, right? So why is it not done more?

• MULTIPLE PLAYERS within the client’s company – all contributing on different schedules
• WORKING STYLES – some people like to see a framework so that they can then fill in the “blanks”
• HABITS – some people just get in the habit of handing off one element at a time.

How to move toward a more perfect world?

• The MULTIPLE PLAYER situation – Clients can identify all players in a project and their roles up front and define one leader. Then the leader can partner with the agency account executive to organize, drive and manage the project.
• The WORKING STYLE situation -  Agency account executives can paint picture of how different requests can add unnecessary hours. They can make recommendations on how to organize the gathering of information to minimize costs. Personality traits or insights of all parties should be shared with the account executive so he or she can better manage communications.
• The HABIT situation – Not gathering all information early on is costly because the designer ends up spending a lot of time organizing and reorganizing the content, keeping track of what is still missing, and reading through multiple emails looking for content. By working closely with the agency account executive at the planning stage, this can be easily avoided. He or she will organize the job with a systematic approach to save time and money.

Most important take-aways?

• Gather all content up front
• Spend time with your agency account executive up front, as you would with an architect to streamline the work flow of a project and optimize the  timeline, budget and deliverable quality.

One main area of focus of the seminar was to improve overall communications within the agency and with clients.   In analyzing the daily activities and occurrences in the work place,  it is eye opening to see how much time can be lost to unnecessary meetings, constant interruptions, and miscommunications.  By simply streamlining communications both with clients and within our agency we not only save time but more importantly it will allow account executives to be more strategic in campaigns and creative teams to be more innovative with designs, thus producing deliverables that will increase the client’s ROI.

Although cliche, we often forget that communication is a two way street. As a client, you maximize your investment in an agency by providing clear and concise direction. Be sure to clearly think through what you want your marketing campaign to achieve prior to engaging the agency.  Doing this leg work and then communicating it clearly will allow the agency to creatively develop a successful campaign rather then trying to pull something together based on vague direction.  Vague direction usually results in more time and more money in the end. Also, be specific on your feedback to agency.  Saying you don’t like a certain aspect of a design is a start, but what specifically would you like changed? Is the copy? The image? The color scheme?

On the agency’s side, expect your agency to clearly and accurately identify project goals and establish creative direction based on your clear, concise project brief at the beginning stages of a project.  Your account executive should communicate the production expectations and project timeline so that both you and the agency are in accordance with what you want the marketing campaign to achieve.  Additionally, the account executive should be updating you throughout the project as to where the project stands in terms of budget and should submit any change orders for your approval if the project is going beyond the original scope of work.

Actively practicing good communication skills on a daily basis will prove to save agencies and clients time, money, and unnecessary headaches.