The Web Project Guide

Corey and Deane talk about how project plans rarely stay intact upon first contact with real life, all while wondering why anyone would really want the thankless job of being a project manager in the first place. Then, Brett Harned, author of Project Management for Humans, joins the podcast to talk about project planning — how to plan for a variance of skills within a standard project plan, creating better retrospectives, and how to help become better clients and teams. And, Brett talks to us about his record collection.

The Web Project Guide (webproject.guide) podcast is sponsored by Blend Interactive, a web strategy, design, and development firm dedicated to making great things for the web.

Read Chapter 4: Create a Project Plan.

• BrettHarned.com
• Project Management for Humans — Brett Harned
• Bureau of Digital — Future Events
• "No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force." - Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
• "The Myth of the Perfect Methodology"
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)
• You're My Favorite Client — Mike Montiero

Corey and Deane talk about the roles missing from most new project teams — namely, the idea of a user and product advocate — while also discussing why early discovery and web strategy work is often handled with very little project management.

Then, Patrice Embry joins the podcast to talk about forming a project team. We discuss how to make sure the right people are involved from the start, how to recognize when certain skill sets are missing, and how to ensure inclusivity and representation. And, of course, we talk about sports metaphors.

The Web Project Guide (webproject.guide) is sponsored by Blend Interactive, a web strategy, design, and development firm dedicated to making great things for the web.

Read Chapter 3: Form Your Project Team.

• Patrice Embry
• Patrice on Twitter: @patrice108
• "Don't Keep 'Doing the Project Dishes' (w/ Patrice Embry)" — The Digital Project Manager Podcast
• "Project governance or governess?: How to take charge & avoid babysitting your team" — Coax

Corey and Deane talk about managing expectations in the early moments of a new web project — from discussing how to balance "fast, cheap, and good," how to flex and manage early timelines, and making hard decisions about features.

Then, Karen McGrane of Autogram joins the podcast to discuss our role as corporate counselors, how to counteract overpromising from the sales team, and what do to if the person setting too-big expectations is ... your boss. (Also: Karen weighs in on the best mockumentary.)

The Web Project Guide (webproject.guide) is sponsored by Blend Interactive, a web strategy, design, and development firm dedicated to making great things for the web.

Read Chapter 2: Set Your Expectations.

• Karen McGrane
• Autogram — "The content management and design systems experts"
• Karen on Twitter: @karenmcgrane
• Best In Show - IMDB
• Content Strategy for Mobile
• Going Responsive
• "Rolling Out Responsive" — A List Apart
• "Adaptive Content, Context, and Controversy" — a presentation from Now What? Conference
• Autogram - Wikipedia

In this first episode of The Web Project Guide, Corey and Deane discuss the opening beats of a project: what motivates a new project (the "initial spark"), the risks of onboarding stakeholders too late in the initial phases, and where the term "yak shaving" comes from. Then, we chat with Bill DeRouchey, former lead product designer for Zendesk, to discuss his history with vetting and researching a new project during the opening salvo, territorialism, and Mike Watt.

The Web Project Guide (webproject.guide) is sponsored by Blend Interactive, a web strategy, design, and development firm dedicated to making great things for the web.

Read Chapter 1: Know the Scope of the Project.

• Bill on Twitter: @billder
• "Yak Shaving Day" - Ren and Stimpy
• "The Glory of Man" - The Minutemen
• Ball-Hog or Tugboat - Mike What (Wikipedia)
• "The Power of Why" - presentation from UX Week 2012
• "The History of the Button" - presentation from User Experience London