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I'm working as an UX designer for a startup studio that develop internet products and web services.

So, i started 3 months ago, my boss's strategy is to develop some experiments and then collect people's registration and feedback to see if they like them or not. If people are interested then we'll keep developing.

My boss is always somewhere so we work through emails, which makes it difficult to communicate ideas together. I was asked to design websites and things very quickly with world class quality and expected to done a project in 3-4 days. I mean, he wants something like sites in thebestdesign.com done in 3-4 days. I think that it's a bit too rush to do something like that. So, i just want to know how long do you guys get a web project done ? (just the design part).

Just recently, my boss wants to do a game, i'm not a game artist and have never worked with game graphics. I can do it but my boss wants me to get the icons, health bar, energy bar, backgrounds and things done in just 2 weeks. I think that it's impossible. The coding part is already done because the iOS dev guy has a source code that he has done long time ago so they're waiting for me to get things done now. And my boss says that I'm being too slow.

What do you guys think? Thanks,

Sorry for my English if it's bad.

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    Sounds like you've got a bad boss. But you also need to make sure that you're properly communicating your own obstacles and communicate the difficulty and time involved in these projects. Did someone have that job before you? Were they cranking out stuff that fast? What was their quality like?
    – Hanna
    Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 21:35
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    By "design" do you mean just a Photoshop mockup, or something in HTML ready to go?
    – Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum
    Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 21:35
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    And "If people are interested then we keep developing" sounds veeeeeeeery sketchy to me. Why would you work on a job without a contract, a commitment, schedule, deliverables, and so on? I think the business is a bit shady. Get what experience you can and get out as soon as you can manage it. This is a starter job.
    – Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum
    Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 21:38
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    The red flag is 'startup'. While not universally true, many times that's just a code word for "we want employees to produce 200% at 50% the pay"
    – DA01
    Commented Jun 10, 2014 at 0:36
  • I hope your also being paid wordclass. Might be a good idea to keep your resume polished and handy.
    – joojaa
    Commented Jun 10, 2014 at 12:39

4 Answers 4

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A business startup that expects 3-4 day turnarounds on well-designed websites? A startup with arbitrary and poorly-communicated goals? A startup that plans to give up on development if "people" aren't interested? (Who are these "people"?)

Alarm bells!

It doesn't sound like your employer has a reliable strategy at all, and if he believes that a high-quality website can be turned around in 3-4 days - including all requirement gathering, sketches, designs, prototypes, artworking, development, content strategy, usability testing and iterations - then he is highly misguided, and that's phrasing it politely!

Obviously I don't have the full picture here, but I would advise you to be very careful in your commitment to this startup.

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Design, as well as any other project-managed service, falls under the project management triangle. Quality is driven by time, cost, and scope.

Your boss is asking for quick, cheap and a low/medium scope. Determine the quality that those factors allow you to deliver. When he isn't happy with the quality, throw him the triangle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_triangle

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  • Excellent point. This graphic is quite self-explanatory too.
    – Yisela
    Commented Jun 11, 2014 at 2:20
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Every kind of work requires a certain time for it to go beyond "good". Your boss is asking for quick and dirty solutions.

I think you may communicate with him/her first about that. You can show him/her the triangle mentioned by @user25853.

For 3/4-days websites you can consider purchasing templates which were created for the same purposes or you can find the most similar ones. Also, you can find a lot of interface gfx for free or purchase them. Just make a mashup of these and you are good to go. Do your best to match the styles but don't spend too much time on them.

Your boss's approach to product development deserves no more imho.

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Photoshop Designing is based on the creativity, mood of the designer. Before designing, you need lot of time for the website references. Some time we will get a quick idea/inspiration about the design, but sometimes NOT.

Time is needed for the good and unique designs. You have to communicate everything with your boss, then only he can understand the mind of the designer.

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