It’s a well-known fact, you are not going to reap the benefits of your design project until it’s finished. Here are five things that commonly cause project delays and how to keep your design project on track.

1. Check-in and work on your project regularly and set some deadlines

Without much hesitation we can guess that you are a busy person; most people are, which is why on occasion design projects get put on hold when something more pressing gets dealt with.

To keep from losing touch with your project, set a deadline and schedule a set time at regular intervals (every other day, once a week, etc.) to work on any open items or check in with Hughes & Co. This scheduled time is particularly useful for responding to emails, completing actionable items, and planning for the next project stage.

2. Keep an open mind, and have opinions

A guaranteed way to bring a project to a halt is by getting stuck on small details that may not be relevant to the larger point at hand. On the other hand, projects can also stall when completion or sign-off is approaching and you realise you don’t like something significant.

At Hughes & Co we won’t judge you if you say ‘I’m not sure about…, please can we look at it again’ – after all, we want you to be happy with your final design. Our Hughes & Co team is made up of professionals – we have the expertise and years of experience and we know what is going to work, so tell us if you had different expectations or opinions about how something would look and/or work.

3. Keep those involved in the project small

The old saying: too many cooks spoil the broth is very apt in the design process. Projects will move at a snail’s pace if there are too many people involved. Having more than two people representing your company and making decisions means that there are more than two people offering input on layout, styles, colours, user experience, images, structure, and everything else that goes into creating a design – and that’s a lot of opinions floating around.

Compromising and settling on a decision within a group is difficult and takes a long time, which is why projects slow down and as often as not, end up in a design solution that nobody is 100% happy with. That said, we appreciate that we do not live in an ideal world and sometimes ‘design by committee’ is the way it has to be – and we’re good with that.

4. Discover potential obstacles in advance, and tackle them before starting the design project

At the beginning of the project, ask us what we think the areas of the project are that have the potential to delay your project. With our years of experience, we have come across most situations that could cause delays in your project including, hosting, databases, managing large quantities of content, sourcing images and so on.

Finding out this information ahead of time allows you to begin working on getting what you need well in advance. Start writing content earlier rather than later. Gather data from third party partners before it comes time to implement it. You’ll be armed and ready for any issues before the project even begins.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate!

That old adage never rings truer that for a design project. There is nothing more frustrating (and more deadline-hindering) for all of us than an outbox full of unanswered emails and a silent phone when there are decisions to be made and questions to be answered.

If you are going on holiday, if you are too busy and need a break from the project, or if you are waiting for information from other people, drop us an email or call us to keep us in the picture. Likewise, if there is something we need to share with you, you can rely on us to let you know.

And finally…

Use these 5 ways and we guarantee your design project will run smoother and you will receive the finished product not only quicker, but in a smoother process.