Fast, Cheap, Good

Whenever people come to me wanting a new website we always discuss cost, timescales and exactly what they want in the site. Normally at some point in the conversation I end up saying three little words.


Fast. Cheap. Good.

I then tell them to pick any two out of those three words.

A website can be done quickly and cheaply, but it won’t be world beating. That might be enough for some who just want a web presence or somewhere to point peoples to.

A website can be done quickly and be good, but it won’t be cheap. You’ll need to throw a lot of resources at it, or maybe even buy in some features and coding.

A Website can be cheap and good, but it will take time. Planning, designing, wireframing, coding, user testing will take time. Longer if you want to do surveys at to what you customers require from your site.

So many people want all three but it just won’t be possible.

Chris Hulme

Well my MP has gone and now we have a by-election. I await the constant rattle of my letter box as I’ll be suddenly bombarded with election leaflets and other party political paraphernalia. I’m sure the local printing companies are rubbing their hands with glee with all the extra work they are suddenly going to receive.

The election as been called for 28 February i.e. 21 days time. A very quick turnaround. Why it is so quick is explained in an article from The Democratic Society entitled Eastleigh, Quickleigh. A really excellent article apart from one thing that really made me laugh. The picture and more so the caption. The caption reads ‘Frenetic activity in Eastleigh’. Looking at the picture I would said to myself ‘erm, where is the frenetic activity? Looks quite a peaceful scene to me’. And why use a picture of a theatre which prides itself on being an international hub for developing artists to illustrate an article on elections?

Not saying that The Democratic Society is alone in this. Many newspapers do this. My local paper did an article about the snow delaying flights and had a picture of a plane in brilliant sunshine with no snow. At least they got the airline and aircraft type right. They are getting better at that, so many times in the past they would accompany an article which features one aircraft type with a picture of a completely different aircraft type.  

What the best thing about working from home?

Was talking to one of the senior managers about working from home the other day and the benefits of it. Sure working from home isn’t for everyone. Some people need to separate their home and work life. They need to be in an office environment to get motivated. Also some jobs just aren’t suitable for working from home. Train Drivers for example. But for us office workers it can have its advantages.

So what did we both agree was the best thing about working from home?

Was it the time saved each day not travelling? For me its 90 minutes each way. That’s three hours in total. Yes, I do put some of that time down to good use. Like writing blogs on the train! But still it’s time that I can claim back and do other stuff. Working fro home you can start work as soon as you get up in the morning and work till late. My flexi really increases when I work from home and so does the amount of work I can get through.

Was it the cost savings. The train costs me £15.60 a day or £74.30 a week. I used to get a yearly tickets at £2972.00 but now I work from home every other week I can save over £1000 but just getting tickets as and when I need to. But sometime I need and indeed want to go into the office and I accepted that when I moved away from Bournemouth it would cost me money to get into work.

So what did we decide was the best thing about working home. Quite simply the fact that you can start your working day………. Whilst still wearing your pyjamas! Oh yes!