Feedback is taken to be the ultimate context when discussing new ideas, new projects, new applications and new designs. It is taken as common sense that when you are the force behind an idea, you have to get as many perspectives upon it in order to get it to work. From an entrepreneurial position, the idea has to stick with people if it intends to become famous and a major force. It is often not clear why that consensus is needed but obviously people understand that if the idea is liked by many then it has the potential to do well.
Did all of that make sense? To a budding entrepreneur who has read enough inspirational books, it probably does. But we also need to be aware that multiple inputs can spoil the output. It’s just the basic of cooking really; when you cook something you ensure that you add the right amount and mixture of everything so that the dish is not spoiled. It kind of works similarly with ideas and projects as well. Too many perspectives or trying to create a product that pleases globally often spoils the results.
The reason why that applies to the customers is because most often we end up not convincing the customers of their needs and hence spoil the product that we are finishing for them. I like to simply refer to this as saying that customers often are not aware of what they are looking for. Hence, taking input from them in an idea that you have creatively conceptualized can lead to downturn in results too. This is not universally true for every project you work on, the idea to that we are trying to get across is that; in times it is better to go ahead with making live a website that the customer is skeptic about even though you believe it is conceptually and aesthetically spot on.
The industry has almost accepted it as a standard that your business or your idea must be one that conforms to the norms already there in the industry. To be fair, there is weightage behind that argument. The industry’s standards are set behind the current trendsetter’s practices so there is some quality measure behind those standards. The problem arises when all of those said practices are implemented in every project without distinction or creative input. That consequently leads to stagnation and the ground might work for one or two brands but the others who arrive late on the forefront do not gain that level of success even though they “did follow the standards”.
Take the example of flat design that Apple has right now made seem revolutionary. And every iOS developer is jumping that ship for their design. So the budding developer/designer is left wondering if they should jump in as well. The key thing to realize is that like all trends ultimately do die whereas the one who builds something atop them is the new trend.
In terms of customers, many clients are often fixated with th idea of using WordPress because it is the “trend” right now, whilst Joomla is considered the “past”. This is really straightforward but many customers or clients will not know why their mentioned objects “are’ the trends or why they even want WordPress. Explaining to them the requirements of their own business is often an emergent phenomenon nowadays and that is one thing which many technology consultants and web developers are having trouble juggling. Ultimately if the project does not succeed then it will be the consultant’s quality that will be questioned.
Hence why it is singly important that the architect understands their own valuation of the task they work on. Too much feedback can ultimately impede upon one’s own sense of creativity and bit by bit turn the product into something which had never been originally intended for by the designer or the developer. Opinion and critique is healthy but should be taken in moderate dosage and once again should be applied in a manner in which one’s own idea or aesthetic is not compromised. After all that is how a business succeeds in the long run; by being original.
