When I was in college, I took a two-day train journey from Moscow to Prague.  We stopped late one night in a desolate, flood-lit field, a few miles from the Czech border.  Soviet trains run on rails that are set further apart than the European standard, and we waited  in the cold while every single car was lifted up off its wheels and placed on narrow gauge axles.  We were stranded in no man’s land for hours.

I was thinking of this metaphor with respect to the tricky handoff between various phases of the web development process.   Ideally, a project whisks smoothly through from start to finish, with no break-of-gauge between strategic planning, creative design, and technical implementation. 

But in practice, it often seems logical to break up the project and reassess where you are heading after each phase.  We rescope, we readjust our trajectory, we wait for the right resources to free up.  But naturally you also lose momentum.  When you look out the window, it can seem like you are in the middle of nowhere. 

Should we stop the train between stations?  What’s the best way to reassure everyone that we still have a destination in mind?

Misha Cornes
(photo: ja.vroegop)