Kathy Sierra on her “Creating passionate users” blog offers an unassailably logical rationale for truthful communication in project management headlined: “Don’t make the demo look done.”
Before we get to why this unassailable advice is so often beaten to a bloody pulp, here’s a taste of what Sierra has to say:
When we show a work-in-progress (like an alpha release) to the public, press, a client, or boss … we’re setting their expectations. And we can do it one of three ways: dazzle them with a polished mock-up, show them something that matches the reality of the project status, or stress them out by showing almost nothing and asking them to take it “on faith” that you’re on track.
The bottom line: How ‘done’ something looks should match how ‘done’ something is.
So why is this perfectly reasonable line of reasoning so often ignored? The reasons aren’t exactly secrets:
It’s difficult to generate interest (never mind freeze a market) with a product – oh, say a network operating system – that’s three or four years from completion. Sierra points to this post by Robert Scoble where he recounts how ignoring the truth-in-demos principle hurt Microsoft and Vista.
“Why? Because executives bought into the Flash and Mirrors song and dance too. They thought what they were seeing was possible,” Scoble writes.
Of course, how many bosses really want to hear that the features and deadlines they need for business imperatives simply aren’t possible? How many workplaces reward such honesty?
And how many major products are delivered as advertised and on time?
The press – yes including the trade press – falls for these dog-and-pony shows all the time, of course. Be first is Rule No. 1 of journalism, and if you can’t be first at least be part of the early pack. Every marketer knows this to be true. And back-of-a-napkin sketches don’t attract packs the way that snazzy presentations do. … The immediacy of blogging hasn’t helped here, by the way.
Truthful demos? What a concept.
Who wants to go first?
