200 Wanna-be’s vs. 1 Bonafide Designer

I was inspired today when a coworker of mine passed on this blog post, “American Airlines Web Site: The Product of a Sef-Defeating Design Process”.  To sum it up it’s about a designer, Dustin Curtis, who was absolutely disgusted by the American Airlines website so much that he redesigned it and send a public letter to AA expressing his disappointment.  One of the Designers replied to Dustin’s letter saying “The problem with the design of AA.com, however, lies less in our and more with the culture and processes employed here at American Airlines”.

The post goes on to say that American Airlines website is over seen by at least 200 people.  That is 200 people that have to sign off on a design, 200 people that have an opinion, and 200 people who need to review the design.  You could imagine how even the most brilliant ideas or designs once filtered through 200 people would turn out… far from the original masterpiece. [Read more]