It’s been a while since I’ve written and try work-related posts here on this blog, but I’ve been thinking about the Project Triangle a lot today, and thought there’d be no harm in blogging about it.
Head back to project management 101, and you’ll recognise the triangle above. Which explains that any project can only have two of the three corners, being Good, Fast, and Cheap. You can have two. But it’s impossible to have all three.
As wikipedia puts it:
- Design something quickly and to a high standard, but then it will not be cheap.
- Design something with high quality and cheaply, but it will take a long time.
- Design something quickly and cheaply, but it will not be of high quality.
The concept of the project triangle gives you the impression that you have 3 choices. You have to sacrifice either speed to market, budget or quality.
The ‘Good’ side of the triangle is by far the most difficult to put your finger. Fast is fast. Cheap is cheap. But what is good?
Good is subjective, but heres how I’d describe it:
- ‘Good’ is a flawless user experience.
- ‘Good’ is well designed. Functional and pretty.
- ‘Good’ is the result of passion and hard work.
- ‘Good’ is not just reliable, but indispensible.
In 2011, the quality of the web experience has come in leaps in bounds. It’s clear to see that those who are winning (think kick-starter, airbnb and a whole host of other design led-startups). The winners are all choosing ‘Good’. By contrast, those who are choosing the Fast and Cheap corners, and ignoring good, are those who struggle the most.
I’d argue that nowadays – there are only 2 options. We now compete globally, up against competition that anyone can access from their laptop – it’s too easy for customers, and users to find good quality. In fact, word-of-mouth on the web makes it hard to avoid ‘Good’. It’s become impossible to ignore ‘Good’, especially when it comes to online.
So it’s not really a triangle anymore.
