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Subject:Re: Online vs. paper, my take From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 19 Sep 1996 09:00:00 EST
At 06:22 AM 9/19/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Tim Altom:
>>> Instead of starting with the
>brass' priorities and then designing a medium to suit, they often assume
>priorities and then begin designing. ... Can you sit down with top brass
>and hammer out their preferences for style, appearance, and presentation? Or
>are you stuck with the Darren Stevens Syndrome, where you have to work up
>lots of possibles and then wave them in front of somebody... <<
>Well said, Tim. I would just like to add that it also helps to have materials
>ready to educate the decision-makers to the issues and tradeoffs involved, and
>go in with a set of possible priorities to discuss with them. Decision-makers
>don't necessairily know the priorities that they are working from until
>somebody else tries to get them down on paper.
>Best regards,
>/chet
Jeez, no kidding. We find a lot of companies, especially software firms,
that started in a bedroom and grew too fast for the founders to regroup.
There are priorities, but nobody's ever actually written them down.
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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