Why call it a Design Roadmap?

When I first came up with what I now call my Design Roadmap, I was excited because I had come up with a way to get a Project Plan, Estimate and Schedule all together in one place.  I called it a “Design Schedule/Fee estimate”.  While I was excited that I had a plan to follow, that was quickly followed by a whole heap of anxiety.  What if I couldn’t follow the plan?  What if something changed?  I’d been doing design long enough to know that things always change during a design project - that’s the name of the game!  If I gave the “plan” to the client they would naturally hold me accountable, and then I would really be in a bind.  Ack!  What to do?

I got to thinking, design is really more of a journey than a rigid step-by-step process.  Aha - a journey!  Journeys have twists and turns.  If you’re on a journey, you know your destination, but you also know things might happen along the way that could change the timing or the exact route. For instance, you could get a flat tire, or see a scenic byway that you don’t want to miss.  With a journey, you have a destination and a plan, but you’re open to adapting as things change along the way.  All the power of planning, without the anxiety of having to follow it to the letter.  So we don’t need a “Design Schedule/Fee estimate, “ we need a Roadmap for the journey.  A Design Roadmap.  Eureka! 

Now I have a concept and language around how to present my project plan to the client and set up expectations with them about the journey and how things can change along the way.  I don’t call it a Project Plan, or anything else that sounds rigid.  I call it a Design Roadmap. 

In next week's blog I’m going to take you through step-by-step and show you how creating a Design Roadmap is just like creating a Roadmap for a cross country road trip.  So get your tunes cued up and ready to go, 'cause next week we’re going on a road trip!