Hanson-Smith, Ltd.

Design, writing, and communication

Many projects have involved the design or creation of various types of media:

• Manuals and other documentation
• Training material
• Collateral sales material
• Websites
• Sales presentations and other sales tools

Sometimes, these projects were simply focused on creating a high-quality deliverable, such as a critical brochure or manual. More often, they served to exemplify and test a new product position, user interface design, training strategy, or other strategic plan. The best way to test a new plan is to try it out and refine it, through live use.

We find that an in-house marketing group, or an outside communications firm, produces the best tactical results when given crisp strategic input. A design firm may win awards for beautiful work; but designers rarely know your business, and so they will not (and in fact cannot) achieve your goals unless they receive clear guidance.

So before sinking tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into printing new artwork, retraining a sales force, rearchitecting websites, etc., we find that it is vital to choose definite goals, methods, and metrics. By using an iterative series of brainstorming sessions, prototypes, testing, and refinement, you can focus team effort on the key issues, rather than waste time “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

In effect, this approach applies the software engineer’s “agile development” methods to traditional marketing and communications projects. It works.