Contrary to the popular adage, we have found that many hands do NOT make light work. At least when it comes to designing for the web. As we continue to optimize our workflow, we have gained some interesting insights. During the design of our first few projects (billQ and other internal and client work), we have ended up assigning ONE designer per project. Originally this was done out of necessity, but lately, is has been done by choice. Why do we do this?

Because once you get past the idea phase, you need to start producing something concrete. You need to move from the abstract; from the It would be cool if and the How about this, to the specific. With two designers of strong opinion (name one that isn't), it is hard to get past the abstract phase. Ideas come fast and analysis becomes paralyzing. I have found myself having discussions about things that in all reality, will not matter later down the road. So we have solved this problem by having one person handle a large portion of the design for each project. This removes the speed bumps of second guessing, over analyzing, and arguing over semantics.

Having one designer per project really seems to expedite the process. But where having two hands, or more importantly, two perspectives does come in handy, is later on in the project. Once we have something concrete in front of us, we can then sit down in by the monitor and more effectively critique the design and talk about specific issues, instead of abstract ideas.

If you are running into similar problems and are stuck spinning your wheels, try letting one designer handle the task. Most designers work better this way, and it can really help you move from the abstract to the specific. And that is always easier to manage.