Rapid, iterative web app development is all the rage these days, and it's great when it works. But, sometimes projects crash and burn. What happens when you need to clean up the mess of a team that's been in there before you and left the code and design in shambles? In this presentation, Jon Follett of Hot Knife Design, Inc. and Dan Pickett of Enlight Solutions, Inc. will examine some techniques they've implemented when integrating design and dev in the midst of a pile of code and pixel rubble, with no money and an anxious client who just wants the job to be over and the digital product functional. In five minutes or less, Jon and Dan will pass on some hard earned knowledge, learned in the trenches and show you how to assess the damage, start measuring progress, and get the party back on the bus again.

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Ignite Boston 5
Getting Back on Track
Saving Derailed Projects
02.12.09

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Some thoughts on real world
techniques for developers &
designers on a rescue mission.

3. Jon Follett Hot Knife Design, Inc.
Designs, consults, and writes for
A List Apart and UXmatters.
Dan Pickett Enlight Solutions, Inc.
Codes and consults.
Former Director of Engineering
for Second Rotation (gazelle.com)

4. You are here.

5. This is your
client or
stakeholder.

6. 1. Over Communicate Sync up all the time.

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> Regular
> Brief
> Punctual

8. 2. Deliver Value Quickly For maximum impact

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Create a core asset,
like a killer prototype.

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Don’t bother with a
post mortem ... yet.

11. 3. Assess the Damage What can be salvaged?

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Is any piece of the
project useful?
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage
is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
- Winston Churchill

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Was it built right?

14. 4. Getting Back on Track Building long-term value

15. 5. Define the Process Educate the client.

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Move the client toward
a systematic method of
building the digital
product.
“Everything has been said before, but since nobody
listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over
again.” - Andre Gide

17. 6. Set Expectations Define the rules of engagement.

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Don’t make the
assumption that the
contractor was
the problem.
“Big egos have little ears.” - Robert Schuller

19. “When I am working on a problem I never think about
beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But
when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I
know it is wrong.” - Buckminster Fuller
7. Do Great Work Like Van Halen (pre-Hagar)

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THANK YOU.
Jon Follett
jonfollett@hotknifedesign.com
twitter.com/jonfollett
Dan Pickett
dpickett@enlightsolutions.com
twitter.com/dpickett