KonzeptioNerd

Yes - but, wait, no

You cannot fully evaluate any creative work unless you know the constraints within which it was created.

… said Jesse James Garrett on his blog yesterdy.

First reaction: sympathetic. Ah, the temptation to present a newly launched project with a caveat in the lines of “but, of course, the client insisted … and then the lead designer broke her leg … and …”. But, no.
Here’s Nielsen (and certainly not the first to observe this): “Design is basically problem solving under constraints”. Let’s face it: there’s no such thing as a project without the client insisting and the lead designer (or programmer or IA) succumbing to other demands, and, and, and. Might as well take the constraints out of the equation.

That’s not only useful for evaluating a project, but also for presenting your own work: We know the contraints we worked under and we see the results and remember the pain in every pixel. Those who were not involved in the creation will usually take a much more unbiased and untraumatized approach. (Alas, this is probably not true for the client who’ll eventually have to sign off on your project, but that’s a different story.)

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