Delete the wonder
When I was younger I served tables in a restaurant and one of the main training mantras that management tried to instill in their servers was for them to “Delete the Wonder” for their guests. This meant that you should always keep the client aware of what was going on and to preemptively ask questions and foresee needs that they may have.
Today as a creative director this mantra still rings true with me. Most issues with projects steam from a lack of communication, miscommunication or the designer not managing the clients’ expectations. So with this said how can you as a designer “Delete the Wonder” with your client?
Step 1: Introduce your client to your creative process!
After a project is green lit the first thing that should be done is to have a kickoff meeting to review the scope of the project, introduce the team that the client will be working with throughout the project and most importantly introduce the client to the creative process. Every designer has a different creative process that they use but here is a sample of a process that through my experience I have found to be very successful with web related projects.
Sample Creative Process:
1. The Creative Brief
2. Research
3. Requirements
4. Brainstorming
5. Wireframing
6. Presentation
7. Revisions
8. Final Presentations
9. Sign-off from the Client
Step 2: Keep your client focused!
Anytime you are discussing creative you are working with various opinions, tastes and personalities. Keep this in mind throughout the project. Explain the why things were placed where they were placed, why certain colors were used, project business goals, usability studies and any research found to help prove your points. This will establish you as the professional and will build a sense of trust. However with this said if your client still comes back with changes that may not be in the projects best interest don’t immediately just say no. Explain the ramifications that these changes may have on the project and come up with alternate suggestions that solve their underlying issue for the change but still fall into an acceptable execution.
Step 3: Reveal your hand!
As designers we have this idealistic approach where we want to unveil our final polished designs to our client and have them applaud us as genius. This approach is not only completely unrealistic but could prove to be detrimental to the success of the project. From the project kickoff keep your client involved in the process and share with them the steps of the project. First layout the foundation of the project with a wireframe and get the clients buy in. Buy in is extremely important in all projects. This keeps the client involved, invested and set up as an integral part of the process. A client that feels like they helped in the creation of a project has a greater sense of pride and ownership in that project.
Step 4: Presenting your work!
When you have the project designed present the design to your client in such a way that you are able to explain how you came about to your design execution. Once again this will help to Delete the Wonder which will allow the client to focus on the business goals and on the user and not on the design details.
Every designer has a different way of presenting work. Depending on the location and availability of the client you may have the luxury of presenting your designs in front of your client. If this is not a luxury that you have than either emailing jpegs of your comps to your client or posting your designs in basic html and directing them to a URL are also both acceptable ways to present as long as they are also done in tangent with a phone call walk through. Don’t just send designs over to a client with no explanation because what you will get back from the client is a list of whys. Don’t work backwards. Preemptively answer as many whys as possible in your comp presentation and you will find that the feedback from the client will be less and more focused.
Step 5: Sign-off and documentation!
Throughout the project anytime you and your client move through a step in the process get a sign-off. If you document approval throughout the process it is easier to go back to documentation to confirm what was agreed upon which will continue the project in moving forward. Without documentation or sign-off you face uncertainty with what was really decided on and you end up revisiting past decisions and the project halts or takes a step backwards.
By following these steps and answering the questions before they get asked by the client you will find that you are not only making the process a smoother one but a more efficient one!