Fast, Cheap, Good – You really do have to pick 2

Also known as, the Time Project Management Triangle (or Iron Triangle) is like an old friend. You’ve probably heard of it, or something similar such as:

Time, Quality, Cost. Now Pick 2.

Same thing. This isn’t a new concept. However, we often find ourselves explaining to clients that we’d love to provide high-quality designs, lightning-fast, at the price that is the lowest possible. But, this isn’t possible. Nobody can do this, not without cutting something out (and we all have lives and bills to pay).

Optimization

You really do have to pick two between quality, speed, and price, to optimize(or more well known in the design world as fast, cheap good design). Choose which one to optimize at the beginning of a project to save yourself (and your designer) a major migraine later on! Our favorite example of this is a Spiderman Speed Drawing Challenge.

Fast Cheap Good. Pick 2. Example using spider man speed drawing.

For the sake of this example say the “cost” increases as you go from the right to the left. So, the far left drawing prioritizes quality but the price is higher and it took longer to draw (good & fast but not cheap). The middle drawing is exactly that probably somewhere in the middle of time-quality-price (good & cheap, but not fast). The last drawing, however, prioritizes time (cheap & fast, but not good). The quality is seriously lacking. You can see the difference!

No Sacrifices Needed

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice one of the three completely in order to focus on the other two- for a fair price, you’ll get great quality and you’ll only have to wait a week (or two) instead of having it NOW. Time doesn’t go out of the window because you focus on price and quality. However, if you must have your design tomorrow, then expect the price to increase (sometimes astronomically) or prepare for the quality to suffer. You’ve made time your priority.

So, do you know your priorities? Fast, Cheap, or Good Design. Choose 2. When you’re shopping around (and not just for designs) it’s good to have realistic expectations. Be prepared to compromise and modify your expectations as you learn more. Initially, you may think that a graphic costs $50, but then research reveals that the average cost is $250. You’ll have to adjust your priorities to this new realistic expectation.

Want another great tip? Make sure you are Marketing, and not just blaring sells pitches at your potential clients! You can learn more in our Marketing vs. Selling blog!