When TFG began redesigning our own website (this here one), everyone at the table had an equal vote: web designers, web development team, sales/marketing folks and the gang from management. We approached the project like most businesses would.
We polished. We added/ subtracted stuff. Then we polished some more.
Unfortunately, little by little we’d polished and sanded the rough, risk-taking edges right off – until we were left with something boring, watered down and with almost nothing of our new site’s original vision, charm and ballsy-ness.
Our new website’s copy was crap and the design was, well, not anything you’d want to show at the rodeo. All because we’d tried to placate everyone at the office and didn’t want to isolate (or potentially put off) potential prospects. We played it safe. But who the heck cares about safe? We wanna be digital daredevils when (and if) we grow up!
Comic courtesy of Dilbert.com
How we (TFG) got our website redesign back on track.
We had to step back from the whole thing (forgetting about the total number of hours we’d already sunk into the project) and admit it was doomed. In all honesty, it would’ve been much easier to keep heading down the path we were on and just launch the website as designed (the path that would’ve driven us straight into an embarrassing ditch).
Much more difficult was having conversations with our web designers – and the rest of the web development team – about scrapping everything we’d done and starting over with laser-sharp, tunnel-vision focus.
This focus also included designating one person as our copywriting standard-bearer and another one person who reviews all the edited copy. Not only has this eliminated the “pile on” mentality of the typical copywriting-by-committee process, it means all the copy on our website (no matter which Fowlerite may have originally written it) now speaks to our brand with only one voice.
While we obviously wish we’d gotten it right the first time, TFG’s really happy (and proud) we had the guts to call an audible and start over. And since we launched our website redesign, the results have been nothing short of amazing.
Smart move you need to make
Before doing anything else, admit there are more ditches in the center (where consensus is sought) than along the fringes where innovation, discovery and true change happen.
Playing it safe by making sure everyone is “happy” is the fast track to mediocrity; if everyone is okay with the direction you’re headed, not enough risk is being taken.
