Learning Designer Diaries – The ‘how much and by when’ story
It’s never easy, having the conversation with the sales team, a potential client and asking the all important ‘how much and by when?’ question. Every designer’s aim is to delight their audience – it’s a marriage of art and science. Using creative treatments to engage people and deliver a tangible result takes curiosity, analysis, rigour and imagination. To make this happen means getting the right resources in place with the right time frame and a realistic budget to go with realistic expectations. When it’s a critical programme that if executed well could reap huge benefit, it’s worth thinking what you really want as an outcome, taking the time to plan it properly and invest in the idea. – It can be fun and informative. You don’t need sky high budgets, but agreeing on a realistic budget that is linked to the business results you want to see is an important dialogue. So next time you are looking to buy in for a project (having done the important job of really understanding the learning requirements and business drivers), this could be a useful visual to use as a discussion point to agree the budget you need. 
If it’s something that is going to be short lived and disposable, you adjust the time and budget to reflect it. If it’s a programme that is linked directly to transformative change and critical skills that your organisation needs to be successful then give it some thought – what is it worth? Think of it like this – for your next children’s birthday party, get out the disposable plates, but if you want to make the most of that really nice bottle of red you splashed out on, don’t pour it into a plastic tumbler.
Lizzie Wakefield – Digital Designer