Everything you do is branding

Yesterday I reviewed an interface for an upcoming e-learning deliverable with a ridiculous timeline. I was upset because I knew that I was going to be a problem--there were numerous usability problems that I couldn't let go. One way or another they needed to be fixed, even if it cost us more money to fix it, even if I need to go explain to the client why its going to take more time.

I just can't afford to be sending out crap. For any reason. We're only two months into Tandem, and everything we send out represents us as a company. We don't have a reputation yet--we're building one. Everything we do is branding our new company. Every conversation we have. Every deliverable we send to the client. Every typo, every mistake, and yes, every interface design. It says something about who we are.

Even if we had been in business for 10 years, its the same. If you put out a product you're not proud of, that tells your clients something. It tells your prospective clients something.

So, I'm not settling for just ok. We've got to be rockstars in everything we do, or we're just rockstars in our own minds.