Abstract
The challenge of managing design consultants, that are developing, coordinating, and changing the design of a complex project can be staggering. Contractors often assume responsibility with design in its infancy and budgets already stretched. Designers come from multiple businesses and often have their own agendas, timelines, interests, and loyalties. As a design manager attempting to improve external designer performance, it can be hard to know where to begin.
Working closely with complex projects, we’ve identified common behaviours of designers which are most often the root causes of problems. In this whitepaper we explain each technical behaviour, and what you can do to improve or stop it.
In the final chapter, we provide ideas on how to start promoting excellent management. We will give simple best practices and practical advice, using managing tips from the best high-level projects.
7 common technical behaviours of designers
7 Deadly Sins
- Consultants make changes uninstructed.
- Consultants don’t mark (“cloud”) changes.
- Consultants confuse design development and design change.
- Consultants ignore review comments and instructions.
- Consultants misclassify design maturity.
- Consultants don’t answer RFI’s on time or well.
- Consultants use the wrong model or make other QA errors.