Take Time.
What were you doing in November of 2009?
Pixar was starting a project they have yet to reveal to the public.
Some 350 artists and technicians at Pixar recently celebrated the completion of Inside Out, a new animated film starring personified emotions inside of a teenager’s head. Work on the film began nearly six years ago and is set to hit theaters this June.
I’ve been working on a startup company for 3 years now. My friend Jeffrey and I had an idea to start a baseball apps company back then and we are still at it today. It feels like an incredibly long time since we started!
Many startups have come and gone in the last three years; some lasted little more than a weekend.
I can’t help but wonder what things would look like if we gave our products more time to develop?
There is constant pressure in the startup world to ship products faster. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone tell me we’re waiting too long to release a product I’d probably have $3.85.
I’ve been a graphic designer for more than a decade and I’ve never felt like I’ve given any project enough time. They’ve all felt rushed, especially the ones I really cared about. I’ve always pushed for more time to refine and always received pushback.
Are we making something great or are we making a deadline?
Something will be sacrificed. I’d like to start with making something great and accomodate the schedule to that value instead of accomodating greatness to the value of money.
This is how design companies think because this is how designers think (for better or worse).
Companies with a design-oriented culture, like Pixar, operate within a different set of rules than others:
“Companies without strong design in their culture make decisions differently. Their criteria are usually more about business performance and less about connecting with customers. Leaders say things like, ‘We need this to ship in four months.’ Much of the customer insight, passion, and empathy is likely to be stripped out. This creates a different set of values in a product.”
— Dane Howard
This quote is from an article The Next CEO Whisperers: Designers.
Do you remember the last Pixar movie you watched? It felt spectacular didn’t it?
When we all watch “Inside Out” this summer, let’s not forget that it takes Pixar animators one week to create every three seconds of animation.
Good products take time. I’ve done a bunch of them. Great products take more time and I’ve made a few of those as well. An extraordinary product takes an extraordinary amount of time. I’m working on that one right now.
