Infamous Short Cuts!

​They always seem like a good idea, short cuts, but more often than not, there is a price to pay.   Sometimes that price is dear; and, concerning the complexity of detail management for an Interior Design project, some short cuts are just plain bad news.
 
Let’s take a look at where a project can be seriously delayed, prolonged, compromised or sabotaged by the lure of short cuts that seem smart, but just aren’t.   Who hasn’t been in a hurry at the super market, changed check-out lanes because the one “over there” seemed to be moving faster, and wound up where the register tape ran out?   That simple, mundane lure to save a few minutes doesn’t have many ripple affects, and the ones it does have only affect you and your impatience!

Red may go with everything, but what red are we talking about? Electronics are great, but choose colors in “real time” – or else you might not like the surprise!

In the course of contemporary Interior Design, there are many, many new tools, functions and resources that your team can remotely access.  Agreements and general documentation can be negotiated, debated and confirmed remotely, then finalized by “electronic signature!”   Electronics have brought CAD (Computer Assisted Design) to nearly all design organizations saving everything from paper to time and efficiency.   Live, online communication allows principals to interact on project content without leaving their business bases.  Most resources are accessible over the Internet, making inventories -- and your design possibilities -- easy to initially review and consider.
 
All of those incredible advances are subject to the high risks of infamous short cuts.  As soon as one confuses perceived efficiency with authenticity, trouble is on the way.   Here are some examples that can make your Interior Design team get grey hair – or even lose it all!
 
It is one thing to peruse a manufacturer’s catalogue inventory electronically.   For two simple examples, it is quite a different ball game when a client wants to, make color selections or furniture construction quality judgments from on-screen images alone!  Yet, it would probably be difficult to find a professional Interior Designer who has not experienced a client insisting they want to save time, eliminate face to face meetings, get-with-the-modern-game-plan and do it all online.
 
This challenge is in that debate category I like to call the push and pull of:  Is this an “either-or” issue, or an “and” situation?   Well, it is definitely “and!” 
 
Electronics produce ambiguous interpretations.   It is as simple – and as critical – as that.   Your Interior Design team knows that real time and virtual time, real quality and guesswork, actual color and interpretive electronic reproduction of color – all – require the use of both aspects in making defensible choices and decisions.
 
When/if we make the mistake of assigning absolute accuracy (authenticity) to our amazing though questionable electronic capabilities, we embrace huge margins of error.  We sometimes forget to consider the limitations.
 
When your professional Interior Designer waves the red flag at you, points out what situations need your investment of real time participation vs. online, and runs right smack into your resistance -- be nice!  You want your choices and decisions to be accurate and to be exactly what you thought you were choosing!  (And, your designer doesn’t want to lose any more hair...)