An introduction to the Oxide Commitment List [part 2]
How to Be Happy, Dammit by Karen Salmansohn and Don Zinzell
[You're reading part 2 (of 2). Read part 1.]
We love what we do, and we’re pretty serious about great design. As serious designers, we really want to find the infallible process — the one that guarantees everyone’s happiness in the end.
To date, we’ve improved nearly everything on the designer-side, and yet, there are times when we fail. No matter how well we think we’ve solved a problem, there are times when the client thinks we’ve missed the mark. We’ve started to think that it’s not us at all — that the solution lies on the client-side. Not that the clients are failing, they’re simply unaware of how the process can be most effective.
So, here’s the plan: we’ve developed a list of talking points for new clients. The goal is to make sure that everyone’s expectations are the same. Through no fault of their own, many clients don’t really know what to expect, and that’s OK. Through the list, we want to prepare clients for the experience of working with us. If they have a different idea of how the process should work, that’s also OK. However, we may not be the best fit for them, and we’d be happy to help them find another designer.
The commitments aren’t black-and-white rules, but a set of understandings to be shared by everyone involved. The list has been evolving for a while, and we’re going to use Oxide News as a testing ground. We’ll be posting them one-by-one, and we’d appreciate some feedback.
I’ll be honest: these are not ground-breaking ideas. They are, however, the first time that we’ve asked our clients for something other than information. With the Commitment List, we’re asking our clients to (yes) commit to a common goal. It’s the same goal that Oxide has been working towards since the beginning: everyone’s success in the end.