Locating the Customer

I l @ ve RuBoard

Onsite customers are beneficial, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. The customer is a member of the team, but it is frankly a little creepy to find yourself, as a junior graphic designer, permanently sitting beside the person who writes the checks. We want the customer to get an even view of the project and, when put in with the team, she should start to see things through the eyes of the people she has the most contact with rather than the team as a whole.

The customer should be given a desk away from the team. She is welcome to sit at anyone 's workstation, and you should make sure that everyone else on the team is clear about that. However, she should have her own place to call home. She will appreciate this, especially if you give her a phone and some privacy. Often the customer has a job to do outside of the project, and the easier you make it for her to do that job from your location, the better. Talk to the customer's IT department; maybe you can get her on her company's VPN so she can use files and be connected to its calendar and mail.

I l @ ve RuBoard