Editor’s note: This article is a summary of Paul Boag’s talk at our event The Future of Web Design. You can also listen to the audio or watch the video of the talk, which is below the article.

I’ve been thinking recently about the relationship between clients and designers. And about how we get clients to the point of saying yes. Yes to what, you might ask? Well, that might be yes to the design, that might be yes to your wireframe, some feature or just your approach. But it’s the way that we present ourselves to clients and the way that we interact with them that I want to look at.

Let me first introduce you to the ‘man from Del Monte’. For those of you who don’t know, the man from Del Monte appeared in an advertising campaign in the UK for Del Monte, makers of fruit juice. The advert consisted of a man dressed in an immaculate white suit and a trilby. He had a very colonial look about him and would visit various fruit farms around South America. Each time there would be a groveling peasant farmer who would present his oranges with fear and trepidation to the man in the white suit. And then there would be this moment of hush. And the man from Del Monte would pronounce judgement on the quality of the oranges that were being presented to him. Then when the answer came – ‘the man from Del Monte, he says yes!’ – there would be immense celebration, cheering and dancing. The farmer was very happy that his oranges were good enough quality to be included in the Del Monte range.

Apart from the fact that it’s impractical to be wearing a white suit in an orchard, the point that I took away from the advert is this; That in the web industry our relationships with our clients are sometimes like that. We present something to them and then we wait on tenterhooks for their answer.

Wrong Relationship

At the heart of all of this is a wrong relationship between designer and client that is fundamentally flawed. It’s not something that we talk about very much but a big part of our job is our relationship with our client. So I want to concentrate on fixing that relationship.

In many ways we treat our clients like they are royalty. They’re the people who you have to bow and scrape to. Often we can blindly follow the client’s lead and we can end up being quite submissive in the relationship. We’re afraid to express our opinions, nor do we effectively communicate our opinion when we try to. What happens is we get so frustrated that we give up on projects and effectively kill them. We get to the, ‘yeah, yeah you can have whatever you want,’ stage and we give up.

Or, we swing to the other extreme and we become the person is constantly saying no to everything. We turn into the difficult and argumentative person.

Time to Change

It’s time for a revolution in the designer / client relationship. It’s time to go from a master / servant relationship to a peer / peer relationship. It’s time to change the relationship so that we, as designers, are the experts, providing an expert service and the client perceives us in that way.

How do we change it? Designers need to become the expert in the relationship. Designers also need to be more positive and move away from that negative mentality that ruins so many projects. Negativity can rear its head when we say no to clients but also in the way that we view our clients.

Become the Expert

1. Have a methodology. It puts you in control. It enables you to set expectations with your clients and let them know what’s coming. Nobody likes uncertainty and they certainly don’t like uncertainty when they’re paying a lot of money for something. Clients like to have a sense of what’s coming next and what they can expect from the project. Sit your client down at the beginning of the project and tell them what’s going to happen. Show them the stages that you’re going to work through before you end up at your final deliverable. Maybe even beyond that if you plan to evolve their site over time. By doing this you’re setting yourself up as the person who is in control of the relationship. You’re also reassuring the client and setting their expectations at a reasonable level.
2. Gather information. Everyone works differently and so your methodology may be different to mine. But whatever yours is like, make sure to include a big section on ‘information gathering’. So we’re talking about things like; success criteria, business objectives, competitive analysis, priorities, mood boards, user personas and user expectations. The reason why this information is so important is not only so that you can deliver a better solution but it’s immensely important when it comes to justifying why you have done something a certain way. This is a really important part of the process. It’s unfair of you to expect a client to accept it because you’re the expert. You need to prove that you’re the expert by justifying your decisions in a way that they can understand and associate with.
3. Use third party data. You don’t necessarily need to use the information that you gathered from the client to justify your decisions, you can use data from third parties if you like, such as research institutes etc.
4. Write down anything that’s agreed. Whatever you’re discussing with a client, either over the phone, on e-mail or IM, if something is agreed upon then you need to record that.

Be Positive

We need to take a leaf out of President Obama’s book and live by the mantra, ‘yes we can’. We need to stop blocking ideas that our clients have and stop being negative in our communication with them.

1. Say yes. As part of my quest to have my clients see me as the expert I try to say yes to them as much as possible. However, as part of saying yes I also explain the consequences to them at the same time. “Of course we can do that, but if we do then this, this and this will happen.”
2. Suggest an alternative. Instead of leaving the discussion on a negative note try to suggest an alternative. You can still say yes, present the consequences and when the consequences are not desirable then suggest an alternative.
3. Be enthusiastic and caring. When you suggest an alternative do it with enthusiasm for the project. Give the impression that you give a shit. Obviously, this has to be sincere.
4. Be positive about your relationship with your client. Clients are not stupid. I hear designers talking like their clients are stupid all the time and it annoys me so much. “They just don’t get it”, is a favorite phrase a lot of people use. Clients aren’t stupid, they’re clever, intelligent people. They just happen to be good at something other than design. And just because they don’t understand the Web doesn’t mean they’re not clever. There’s more to life than the Web. Your client will pick up your condescending, patronizing attitude and so we need to be very careful to keep that under control.
5. Give your clients credit for what they’re good at. They know their target audience, they know their business, they know their strategy. They might have trouble communicating that in a way that you can understand but they do have a lot of knowledge. Don’t forget that they have to live with the sites we build. So listen to them when they give you information.
6. Show your work little and often. As designers we don’t like to include clients in the design process if we can avoid it. We don’t like to show work that isn’t finished. Whether it be wireframes, sketches or designs you need to show it to the client as you work on it. By getting them involved they are becoming committed to the process. They’re a part of it and they feel valued. They’re much more likely to approve a design if they have seen it early on and been part of producing it.

Shape the Role of the Client

1. Explain what’s required of the client. At the kick-off meeting you need to set out and explain what’s required of the client. You may have designed hundreds of websites, one after another, but they haven’t. This may be the first time for them. So it’s really important for them to know what their roll is not only to help them but to constrain them as well.
2. Focus the client on the problem, not the solution. If a client comes to you and says, ‘I really hate that blue, I want it be pink.’ You don’t know why he or she wants that, or what the background to the request is. If you just do it then you’re just a pixel pusher. What you need to do is to refocus them on the problem. Why do they dislike that blue? In this situation a more useful statement would be, ‘I’m unsure that the blue will appeal to my teenage girl demographic.’ Now, you know what the problem is and you can work on it.
3. Focus the client on the business. Try to get them to concentrate on the business objectives of the new site. So often clients get caught up with the detail. They worry about the names of sections or the white space on the design. What they should be concentrating on is the question, ‘does the new design help achieve their call to action?’. ‘Does the design communicate the unique selling points of this particular organization?’.
4. Focus the client on users. It’s no use to you if your client tells you what they don’t like and what they do like. What’s important is what the users like and don’t like. Never, never ask a client, ‘what do you think?’. Ask them, ‘how do you think your users will react to this?’.

Managing Feedback

Everything is fine when the designer is talking but once our clients start to give us feedback, that’s when the issues start. So we need to manage the way in which our clients give us feedback.

1. Talk to everyone involved in the decision. Clients consult other people. Even if you’re working with a very small business and your point of contact is the business owner himself, you can bet he’ll show his wife the design (or vice versa). If you’re dealing with a bigger client then there could be a whole group of people who will see your design. Try to talk directly to those people too if possible. If you can make them feel wanted and listened to then they are more likely to come on board.
2. Meet with people individually. Have you ever been in a meeting where one person says, ‘I think the blue is too dark.’ And someone else says, ‘I think the blue should be light.’ And what you end up with is a lighter shade of the existing blue. That’s design-on-the-fly. This can be avoided by meeting with each person separately. If needed, issue a questionnaire in order to really control the kind of feedback you’re getting.

So to recap. You need to turn your relationship with your client into a peer / peer relationship. You need to become the expert and be more positive. You also need to mould the roll of your client and manage feedback carefully.

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Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/jonchristopher

There’s been much debate of late regarding speculative or ‘spec’ work and the associated problems (and benefits) of it. Blogs have been buzzing for a while with negative rants by some high-profile designers regarding the practice and sites such as the infamous NO!SPEC project have gained backing from some big names which in turn has encouraged designers to say no to spec work.

But what exactly is spec work? Some people don’t seem to know. Why all the hoo-ha and what, if anything, should we do about it?

What is Spec Work?

The practice of spec work is the “undertaking of work for free, often as part of a competition”. In the words of NO!SPEC:

“Spec has become the short form for any work done on a speculative basis. In other words, any requested work for which a fair and reasonable fee has not been agreed upon, preferably in writing.”

In a traditional spec situation a prospective client encourages several designers to do a small amount of design work in order to help the client decide which to employ. While this in itself has its problems, much of the recent concern in working ‘on spec’ has been caused by the emergence and rise in popularity of sites such as 99designs and CrowdSPRING that actively promote clients finding complete solutions by running competitions. Such ‘crowdsourced’ design solutions are deemed damaging to the design industry by some.

As with most competitions there’s normally only one ‘winner’ compensated for their efforts, usually at a rate of payment much lower than a professional agency would charge. None of the other entrants receive anything at all. Despite the odds, many are still keen to participate and the competition sites are proving very popular.

Not all competitions are considered to be spec work. There was much debate on whether Carsonified’s (the company behind ThinkVitamin) competition to design a holding slide for its forthcoming Future of Web Design conference should be considered spec work or not. There is clearly still a debate to be had on what spec work actually is.

Why Do Clients Like Spec Work?

There are just as many designers keen to champion the practice of spec work as there are outspoken against it. However, clients are clearly the biggest supporters of spec work since, on the surface they seem to gain most.

It’s certainly low risk for them. Some (not all) of the clients using these site are not interested in design and simply want the cheapest reasonable solution. By commissioning work ‘on spec’ there is potential to get something for nothing without having to formally engage a designer in the traditional way; contracts, up-front fees, having to pay for meetings and design iterations etc.

“…I am a potential customer, not a designer. I am looking for something inexpensive and decent-looking. I don’t need to win a design award,”

says George McC, a client commenting on Graphicpush’s Graphic Push’s post on the ethos of spec work.

1) It’s Cheap
Many spec sites allow clients to set the price that they are willing to pay and a fixed deadline for submissions. Payment is only required for the chosen design, not those which are not liked and not used.

2) It Offers Greater Choice for the Client
Rather than be tied to one agency or designer’s style and ideas, spec work means you can receive a large number of designs, styles and ideas in a very short time.

3) It’s Guaranteed
Dissatisfied clients can choose to abandon a competition and reject the submissions if they are not happy and are not therefore obliged to provide a reward.

The Case for Spec Work

It’s not just the clients who feel they’re getting a good deal from the spec arrangement. A great number of participating designers defend the practice.

1) it’s easy money.
Certainly in the case of 99Designs and other crowdsourced projects, it can be easy to make money. Granted many of the designers taking part are either students or work in countries with less-strong currencies who see involvement as potential to easily make good money. One designer commenting on the same post explained,

“I entered two 99designs competitions. It took 1hour. I won £500. I bought an Xbox 360. Sorry if I undermined all you designers out there.”- designer commenting on Graphic Push’s blog post

2) It’s Good for Developing Skills
Some designers see doing spec work and entering competitions as an opportunity to get bigger, more high-profile clients and improve their design skills.

3) It’s a Quick Way to Get Your Name Out There
As a struggling designer there are few opportunities to get your name known in the industry. Doing spec work can be one of them. Once people have seen your work and like your style, then you can start to charge for your work.

The Case Against Spec Work

There are a great number of reasons why spec work is considered inappropriate by some professional designers. The AIGA, the professional association for design, advise against it.

“AIGA believes that doing speculative work seriously compromises the quality of work that clients are entitled to and also violates a tacit, long-standing ethical standard in the communication design profession worldwide. AIGA strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.” – AIGA.

There are many reason why designers think that spec work is a bad thing. Some high-profile designers simply dismiss it out of hand.

“Never do spec under any circumstances.” – Jeff Zeldman

While others give more detailed reasons why they dislike it.

It’s Uninformed Work
Design is about much more than individual taste. ‘Spec’ work encourages clients to look upon design as a commodity whereas good design is a process of understanding and solving a problem in the most appropriate way.

“While good design invariably has an eye on aesthetics and a concern for technical accuracy and perfected details, graphic design, (whether for web, print or screen), is essentially about solving problems. Each project has its own set of unique problems to address.” – Mark Boulton, FiveSimpleSteps

Spec work often ignores the problem-solving, considered design process in favor of promoting a ‘beauty-contest’ of finished work, with the winning entry appealing to the client and not necessarily solving the problems at hand.

It Devalues the Profession
Commissioning work for no payment could be considered immoral, it is certainly degrading and minimizes the value of the design and the value of the designers intellectual property.

“At the very outset of my career, I did several projects on spec — and I’d never do it again. Our ideas are the most valuable things we bring to the table on any project and, once given, there’s no taking them back. Spec work sets a dangerous precedent.” – Daniel Burka, Digg.com

It Encourages Plagiarism
While many feel that spec work reduces the risks for the client, in fact the opposite is true. It has been suggested that many participants use stolen or copyrighted material as part of their submissions. Plagiarism is quicker and easier than designing from scratch, especially if there’s a risk that you might not be paid.

It’s Unprofessional
The client-designer relationship is largely unmoderated, thus both parties are at risk due to the potential for unprofessional conduct. Stories from unhappy designers abound who feel they have not been fairly treated by a client and from clients who have been harassed by unprofessional, unqualified designers. Many suggest it’s often more trouble than it’s worth.

Is There a Solution?

While the demand for poor quality, cheap design work prevails the problem is unlikely to go away. The only way to eradicate this from the design industry is for designers to refuse to do spec work, en mass. For this to happen though, designers need to agree on what is and what is not spec work.

Maybe what is needed within the graphic/web design industry is a global, dedicated body to educate and support clients in their search for appropriate designers. How do you think the issue should be resolved?

Further Reading:

Graphic Push – 99Designs Bullshit

Paul Boag – Why Speculative Work is Wrong

Jeffrey Kalmikoff – The Fine Line Between Laziness and Crowdsourcing

Ross Kimbarovsky – CrowdSPRING’s reply to NO!SPEC

Andrew Hyde – Spec Work is Evil

Dev Lounge – Spec Work, Good or Bad?

Main image: Kyril

Possibly the biggest mistake in any development project is failure to plan. Recently, the owner of a prospective start-up told me that planning was unnecessary and a good developer could just start coding. This, I promise you, will end in tears.

Wireframing is one of the first steps in your planning process and arguably it’s one of the most important ones. This is when the idea starts to take shape as an application, becoming boxes and buttons that users will interact with. This article will take you through a wireframing process; who should be involved, the tools to use and tips to enable you to make better wireframes.

1) Be Clear About Your Objective
As a developer I can understand the temptation to jump in and start coding. Often the initial idea seems so simple that surely you could just sit down and bash it out? Unfortunately, projects are rarely simple and anyone with experience will know what a myriad of unforeseen issues and challenges await you if you go down this route.

A wireframe will help you identify many of these issues in a way that is time and cost effective. It is far easier to make changes to a collection of paper screens than after you have written a thousand lines of code.

The process also helps to create a better understanding of the application. Putting it down on paper raises questions and ideas and leads to changes.

The final output will be a blueprint from which designers, developers, architects and project managers will work and makes sure everyone is in sync.

2) Make it Functional, Not Pretty
There are variations in how wireframes are presented and this is reflected in the various tools available. Fundamentally it is about the functional parts of an application, e.g. that a page will have 3 text boxes and 2 buttons. It’s about function not form.

At Howard Baines we take an austere approach to this and our wireframes include nothing but the functional elements (boxes, buttons, dropdowns etc). We ignore anything that could be seen as design or layout. Others may go a little further and include layout and other visual elements. Whatever works for you.

3) Draw on Your Experience
You do not need skills in design or development. All anyone needs is experience in using web apps or websites. Of course the more experience the better but you don’t need to understand relational databases to wireframe.

4) Decide Who’s in Charge?
Make sure someone owns the wireframe process. They are responsible for keeping it up to date and managing feedback, changes etc. In the case of a start-up this is often the founders, the ones with the idea and vision who understand the end goal. In the case of our clients we often take on this role. It doesn’t matter who it is so long as ‘someone’ is in charge.

5) Involve Everyone
Maybe not at the first meeting, that should focus on simply getting the idea on paper and involve the key stakeholders whose idea it is. Fewer, people involved makes this process quicker. As the wireframe develops involve other members of your team and your client’s team. For example, if you are integrating your app or site with existing databases then make sure the DB owner can check that all the data fields exist in their database before you add them to your wireframe. Collecting a user’s fax number is no good if there is nowhere to store it. Equally designers have a good understanding of user experience and can spot potential problems in the flow early on.

6) Set a Deadline for Completing the Wireframe
It is important to set aside predefined periods of time and deadlines for deliverables to keep a project moving. The initial wireframing session could be one day or several depending on the size of the application. But set a period and stick to it. Follow up review meetings can be much shorter or even done remotely.

7) Keep it clean
If a particular page requires two text boxes and a button then it should have just that, no more, no less.

8) Avoid Designing Your Wireframe Too Much
Wireframing is about the functional way in which something operates it’s nothing to do with presentation or design. We try to avoid anything that could be construed as design. This will almost always distract the audience. Add a little blue just to try and make it more interesting and you will have a half an hour conversation about the merits of blue. Design should be left to designers.

9) Remember that UI is not UX
It can be extremely tempting to start thinking about the use of presentation methods such as AJAX. Remember that a wireframe document is about the functional elements and not the way they are presented or users interact with them. For accessibility reasons applications need to work without features like AJAX and therefore more like the wireframe.

10) Think About the User
It sounds obvious but it’s so easy to get caught up in creating a wireframe and forget about the user. The functional is what we’re focused on but it is still important to consider the user experience that is being created. For example, if you create a registration form that is three pages long you probably won’t find that many people fill it in.

11) Don’t Get Lazy
It’s often easy to say “the login page is obvious let’s not include it in the wireframe”. Make sure you wireframe everything. At the end of this process you should have a document that can be stepped through just like the final website. Every step counts and none should be ignored.

12) Organise Your Wireframe into Sections
A website or app is often divided into sections such as news, products and user account. Break up your wireframe document accordingly for much easier reference.

13) Number Your Pages
A web application often consists of a number of processes; a checkout is a good example. Often these are linear but sometimes users can choose different paths such as skipping a step. Clearly number the pages in your document and then label which page a particular action (such as clicking a button) takes the user to.

14) Look for Repetition
Consistency within an application is helpful to users, developers and designers. Repetition of groups of elements can therefore be a good thing. For example, wherever a user enters an address it should be the same fields in the same order. Look for these areas of repetition as you wireframe.

15) Check it all Makes Sense
The final document should be easy for anyone to follow. If only a developer can understand your wireframe then something has gone wrong. Ask at least one person who has nothing to do with the project if they understand it.

16) Ads are Functional
Many sites include advertising for monetisation, this may be as simple as Google ads but it is functional and not design, so include it.

17) It’s Not Just the Public Site
Many sites have an administration area for managing content, viewing registered user profiles, resetting passwords etc. This may not be viewed by many people but it is still important. Sometimes it can contain data that is not publicly available (such as a user account enable button). This is important information to developers when designing the database.

18) Know When to Stop
Make sure all relevant stakeholders have the opportunity to give feedback but don’t turn this exercise into painting the Sistine Chapel. Typically I would say three drafts should get the job done. The first gets the idea onto paper. The second reflects feedback from other parties such as developers, and designers. The third should be the final polish.

19) Choose the Right Tools
Pen and paper is often the way to start. It is much easier and faster than using a computer and lets you get thoughts and ideas down as the concept evolves.

Once you start creating the document our advice would be to use the tool you’re most comfortable with. Developers for example may use Microsoft Visio, project managers PowerPoint, Designers Adobe Fireworks.

I think that the wireframe should be a document though rather than something interactive (like design, it can be a distraction) and therefore creating HTML may not be the best thing.

There are a number of specific tools for wireframing, for example Balsamiq provides an environment for quickly adding and customising common interface elements. They have given it a hand drawn feel to provide a visual lift while not actually being design.

20) Consider Dependencies
Everyone knows what a shopping cart process is, right? Therefore it’s easy to wireframe and put to one side. Not entirely. What if you’re using a third party payment provider such as PayPal? That may influence how parts of the site must work. Research the areas where there will be dependencies and make changes accordingly. It’s easier to do it now than later.

Hopefully this article has provided a clear sense of the wireframing process, who’s involved, how to approach it, the tools to use and what the final output should be. The most important thing to remember, however, is that a thorough and well put together wireframe can save you a lot of time later in dealing with issues later on down the line.

Do you have any tips for creating great, usable wireframes fast?

So you’re a skilled developer or design freelancer who has established a handful of customers who pay your bills and provide you with an income. That’s great. You may wish to keep things just the way they are or you might want to build on this and build up your own small business. If you’re opting for the later then here are a few tips to help you ride the bumpy road from freelancer to fully-fledged small business.

1) Move Out of Your Back Bedroom
If you are moving from freelancing to running a company then you need to show your potential customers that you are 100 per cent committed to the business, thus allaying their fears that you won’t be around in a few months time. If you can, move from your home workspace to a dedicated office. This doesn’t necessarily mean huge expense but it can instill a great deal of confidence in you from potential clients. Depending on where you are, office space can cost from as little as £130/month ($190) and should also help with your work-life balance. An additional benefit is that it will give you a postal address that you can publish on your stationery and website without revealing your home location.

2) Dress for Business
Now that you’re running a business (for better or worse) you will need to take a look at your appearance. Many may disagree, but personally I think nothing says business more than smart dress. Of course, it’s up to you how you dress but think about it this way. If you want the conversation to centre around your professional skills, don’t wear anything that will steal the conversation away from this. A T-shirt with a witty slogan on it may be just the thing for a night out with your mates, but a lunch with a potential client? Maybe not. Why do anything to stack the odds against your company winning the project?

I am happy to accept that this is a controversial subject and would be very interested to hear your thoughts about this. What works for you? Do customers react to you differently when you are wearing smart dress as opposed to casual?

3) Centralize your Data
When you are a freelancer working on your own it’s fine to store information about your work processes in your own head, or contact e-mail addresses in your personal AddressBook. But the moment someone else is involved in your business then this isn’t good enough anymore. You may start to find that you spend a lot of time imparting knowledge to others. You will need to move that knowledge somewhere where it can be easily shared. For example, Highrise (www.highrisehq.com) is great for keeping a database of your customers and tracking conversations/activity with them.

As much non-skill related information should be documented as possible, this will assist you in building business processes to ease any future expansion that you may have planned. You should encourage others working with you to do the same and attempt to cultivate a culture of ‘centralised knowledge.’

4) Be the Person Your Customers Like
Building good relationships is key to running a successful business. There are thousands of web development/design studios in the country and there’s nothing to stop your customers moving to your competition if they feel they are not getting value from you. People rarely choose based entirely on price. They buy from people they like and whom they think will support them in the best way. It’s this support that will win you a customer for life (even if your services are more expensive than your competitor’s). As a general rule you should try the following:

5) Reply to Emails Promptly.
Even if you cannot compile a meaningful response/resolution immediately then acknowledging the message with a reply will let the customer know that you are on the case.

6) Always Return Voicemail Messages.
This is really important. If a customer knows that based on your history that you always call them back after leaving a voicemail then they will not feel the need to keep calling you or bombarding you with email. This can help alleviate stress in busy periods when you deem answering the telephone of secondary importance.

7) Maintain a Verbal/Email Relationship.
You should contact the customer on a regular basis (every 3 months if the job is over) to inquire how things are going. This will help to make the customer feel important and that you are still interested in their business even though the project is finished. It will also help to keep you in their mind for future projects. Try to avoid a sales push with every contact else this goodwill will be broken and they will dread your calls.

8) Express Interest in your Client’s Business Sector.
Keeping up with trends in your customer’s industry can be invaluable in generating recurring revenue from existing streams. Tracking changes in their business will allow you to suggest improvements or additions to their application or website. This can be as simple as following their RSS feed and needn’t take up much of your time.

9) Welcome Customer Complaints.
Complaints are great! Complaints allow you to fine-tune your business so that future customers don’t suffer from the same irritations. You must handle every complaint about your business seriously and be prepared to make good on any deal that a customer doesn’t feel you’ve delivered on.

10) Don’t be Afraid to Pass
Many people believe that you should never turn down work. I disagree. If a potential customer is looking for services that you know in, your heart, are not your speciality then don’t be afraid to pass the work on to another trusted freelancer or business. Although not earning you revenue immediately it will benefit you in two ways:

Firstly, you will earn the customer’s respect for passing them on to a
3rd party. This will show them that you are looking after their needs rather than taking the money and delivering a poor job. You will be surprised how quickly you become a ‘trusted advisor’. And Always send a follow-up email to the customer a few weeks into the project inquiring about how things are progressing with the 3rd party and ask them to keep in touch.

Secondly, forging strong relationships with other companies and freelancers can pay dividends in the long run. Approaching a 3rd party with a business lead will buy you a great deal of goodwill and allow you to introduce yourself and services to that person with a view to working together in the future. Networking is the way that you might get your next big job.

11) Work on your Sales Technique
Working on improving your sales technique with prospective clients should be something that continually evolves throughout your career. There are no strict rules for selling; you just need to be better than your competition! You can be the best programmer in the world but unless your potential customer likes you and is confident that you can do a great job then your skills and experience will count for zero. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

12) Build ‘stock’ proposals.
Especially, for common projects such as content management and ecommerce. This will save you time when pitching for a job and allow you to reply to an enquiry within a day or two of your meeting with them. The longer it is left silent between you and the customer the smaller your chance of winning the project.

13) Always be On Time.
But be aware that arriving early can be as disruptive as arriving late.

14) Learn About Personality Types.
Learn how to spot them and how to deal with different people and groups.

15) Use a Notepad to Take Notes.
If a customer sees you taking notes then they are much more likely to tell you more information about what they need.

If sales is an area that worries you then there is a wealth of great information on how to sell effectively by Warren Greshes (www.greshes.net).

Good luck with your new venture!

Thanks to www.flickr.com/photos/tanfacedprairieboy for use of the main image

You’ve put in the long hours day and night for the last week and it’s time to finally present your concepts to the client. Your concepts are solid and you feel it’s exactly what the client and, more importantly, the audience needs. Don’t let a bad presentation take your beautiful work and turn it into a mediocre mess.

Even the best designers in the world need to know a couple of things about presenting their work and managing a client/designer relationship.

1. Present with confidence

The biggest rookie mistake designers make is that they don’t present their work with confidence. Everyone gets nervous, but meetings are not the place to be shy. When I first started designing in college, I used to have shaky hands and my voice would crack like I was going through puberty, but I finally learned one thing to help me get by.

Confidence comes from knowing you put the work in. You put in the long hours and went through all the research and client briefs to provide the best solution to the client’s problem. Why shouldn’t you feel on top of your game at this point? Just believe in your work.

2. Defend Your Concepts

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the previous tip, but don’t be afraid to push back on the client if they are making the wrong decision. Be ready to explain every single pixel committed to the screen and why it’s important. Without that your work will have no legs to stand on.

If you’re having trouble vocalizing why you’re doing what you’re doing, just remember design is about solving the client’s problems. Whether that’s a communication (graphic design) or a behavioral (interactive design) problem, start from there and you’ll find that your rationale will be much more convincing.

3. Listen to Criticism

Always make sure to listen to the client’s comments and any user feedback. No matter how un-intelligible it may be at times, they might have insight on something that you never thought of (especially if it’s in a market you have no experience in).

Also, be careful and don’t take all criticism at face value. You have to really listen and find the heart of the issue because most of the time your clients will not be able to vocalize the exact problem. If the criticism is especially cryptic, just dig deeper and you’ll eventually come to the root of the problem.

Don’t take “I just don’t like it…” as a response. Ask more questions.

4. Don’t be a “Yes Man”

I’ve put in a lot of hours at various advertising agencies in the past couple of years and the worst thing that happens in client meetings is watching people become “yes men”. Bad account executives are notorious for doing whatever it takes to make the client happy, even if it’s at the expense of the project’s quality. It’s sickening to watch.

You have the benefit of not having a middleman when being a freelancer or running your own shop. So take advantage of it and make sure your ultimate goal is to produce the best product possible, not stroke the ego of the client. Put the egos away if you want something to be done right.

5. Find the stakeholders/decision makers

There’s nothing worse than presenting your work to someone and realizing that they have no sway or power. You jump through all the hoops and realize you have yet another set of people who have to approve of the design and direction. So, find the people who make the decisions and present to them alone. You’ll save everyone’s time and money that way.

Summing it up

Overall, remember that each client relationship you have is a balancing act between addressing needs, problem solving, and your knowledge of the impact of good design. Be confident in fighting for what you believe will produce the best work. In the long run your client will be pleased and, more importantly, it will keep you from throwing your computer and yourself out your office window.

Suggested reading

Presenting Design by Luke Wroblewski, One Idea is Better than Three by Garret Dimon and The Design View Show #1 by Andy Rutledge.

Communicating design is tricky business. Designers have invented all kinds of deliverables to handle this job, but we continue to run into the same issues over and over again.

First, we forget things. We leave out some small element that, as it turns out, is absolutely essential to making an interaction work, so we need to revise our designs and send out a new set. Second, we run out of time in our busy schedules and never actually get around to presenting the design work to our clients (whether internal or on the other side of the planet). Third, we forget to include a few extra hours in our project proposals for the inevitable questions developers will have as they dig in and start trying to build the deviously brilliant designs we’ve concocted for them.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to this mess. But for several months now, I apparently couldn’t be bothered to tell you about it.

So today, I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m giving away my secret weapon. (But not until the end of the article.)

Introducing the Design Description Document (DDD)

A Design Description Document (DDD) is, essentially, a slide deck that shows detailed use cases alongside wireframes or comps in an effort to detail all the interactions in a design. And it has quite a few major benefits.

Typically, when an interaction designer completes a set of task flow diagrams and wireframes, she ZIPs it up and sends it off to whoever is pounding on the wall for them and hopes everything goes well. This method invariably backfires.

The ZIP gets sent to the boss, and the boss comes back with questions. The ZIP gets sent to the development team, and the developers come back with questions. The ZIP gets sent to the Documentation team, and the writers wait until something is in QA, because they know the final product won’t be anywhere near what you designed, and then they write their Help documents as quickly as humanly possible.

The Design Description Document cures all of this. First, it communicates to the boss how each interaction will occur, so he has no questions. Second, it tells the developers exactly how things need to work so they know what to build and can immediately start cranking it out. Third, it gives the Documentation team something they can start writing about sooner than later. After all, if the developers know exactly how everything needs to work, odds are much better that the final product will be in line with the original design.

Do you see a trend here? DDDs are good for everyone. Oh wait, what about the designer?

Well, DDDs are designer-friendly, too. They take very little time to create, they’re wickedly easy to update, and, well, they can be branded, and what designer doesn’t love that?

And in addition to answering questions, it helps prevent you from making mistakes and sending them to everyone you know. Because a DDD includes detailed use cases (more on this in a few), you have to actually write down the steps to complete each interaction. As you do this, you can continually check the wireframe to make sure each step can be performed as you’ve written it. If not, you probably forgot to add something to the wireframe. Now you can fix the wireframe, update the DDD, and send out mistake-free design deliverables.

The elements of a DDD

The Cover slide (the first slide in the deck) of every Design Description Document includes a few key elements. Here’s the list:

• Client name
• Project name
• Version number of the application
• Designer’s name
• “Last modified” date

Each subsequent slide of the DDD includes a few more essential elements:

• Wireframe for a single screen, or a storyboard for a complete interaction (you will likely need to scale this down to fit it on the slide, hence the inclusion of a full-size version of each wireframe in your design deliverables)
• Detailed, written use cases for each interaction shown in the wireframe or storyboard
• The file name of the accompanying full-size wireframe image (e.g. 01-Homepage.jpg)
• Notes (if needed)

And if you find that you need some extra room for longer explanations, you can always add Notes slides to the equation, either mixed in with the wireframes or at the end of the slide deck.

The low-down on the how-to

To put one of these babies together, you need the right software. Fortunately, it’s probably already on your machine. As I said, DDDs are slide decks, which means you can put them together in Microsoft Powerpoint or Apple Keynote. You could, in theory, also use Adobe Illustrator or even use keyframes in Adobe Flash.

I created templates in Powerpoint and Keynote to get you started. I use the Keynote version often, and I find that it’s the easiest, but not everyone is lucky enough to own a Mac.

Both versions make use of “master slides”, and this is where the graphics are located. So that I don’t have to reformat text every time I create a new DDD, I keep a version that has three slides by default: the Cover slide, a Design Description slide, and a Notes slide.

To create a Design Description Document, simply pop open one of these files and do a quick Save As to make a copy without affecting the template. Then:

1. Access the Cover master slide and replace the ClientName, ProjectName, Version#, DesignerName, and DD/MM/YYYY text with the name of your client and the project, version number, designer name, and date.
2. Open the Design Description master slide and replace the AppName and V# text with the appropriate info.
3. Go to the second slide in the deck and copy and paste it to make new empty slides – as many as you need to show each wireframe you created. If you have 20 wireframes, create 20 Design Description slides.
4. Next, either insert a wireframe image or paste one in, and then start writing out use cases in the sidebar for each interaction on that screen.
5. When you’re done, either send it off as is, or turn it into a PDF. (This is good for preventing people from editing the document.)

In Keynote, you can simply export the entire document as a PDF, directly from within Keynote, by choosing File > Export and selecting the PDF tab in the resulting dialog box.

In Powerpoint on Windows – well, you’ll have to figure that out yourself. I’m allergic to Windows. Can’t go near the darn thing.

Use cases 101

These templates are designed to help you write effective use cases, but here is a quick crash course.

First, replace the term “Use case” throughout your Design Description slides with tasks. For example, “Sign in” is a very typical heading for a use case. “Retrieve password” is another.

Next, write out the steps to complete each interaction in the wireframe.

Finally, go back over each step in the use case and look for exceptions. Exceptions are things that can occur if a user doesn’t execute your use case exactly as you intended it. A user who enters an incorrect password on a sign-in screen, for example, needs to be shown an error message. The use case exceptions are where you detail these facts.

To do this, explain which use case step is being excepted, then write out the steps for the alternate use case. In the example shown here, a user can enter an incorrect user name (Step 1 in the use case). To remedy this, we show an inline error message, the user enters the user name again, and clicks the Sign In button.

Click here to download

Ha! Made you click.

So, you’re sold? You want the templates so you can create your own Design Description Documents and stop sending out mistakes and answering questions long after a project is over?

Well, then download the template already.

For just a few cents a day, you can help a designer break the habit

Once you get the hang of creating your own DDDs, spread the word. The more designers use these templates, the easier life will be for all of us in the future. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sent a set of wireframes designed by someone else and had to go hunt them down and ask questions.

With the DDD, life is richer and more rewarding. It’s like one of those commercials where everyone is happy.

For a full collection of templates, visit www.rhjr.net/ddd.

And if you happen to create a new template in something other than Keynote or Powerpoint, send them to me at “robert at rhjr dot net” and I’ll add them to the collection. (Be sure to give yourself credit in the template. You deserve it.)

We have all had clients who want the impossible — and never more so than when it comes to homepage design. They have a never-ending list of requirements, which mainly revolve around cramming as much content in above the mythical fold as is possible.

This desire to display everything on the homepage is born out of a perception that it is the most valuable real estate on a site. A perception perpetuated by the numerous design galleries, books and other media that always show screenshots of the homepage, rather than the numerous other pages on a site. This can lead to individuals and departments within an organization fighting to ensure their interests are represented on the homepage.

Unfortunately, in this fight for the spotlight, usability and design aesthetics are often the first causalities.

In this article I’ll explain 4 techniques which I have used to bring some sanity back to the process of homepage design. These techniques are not clever tricks to get the client to see things your way. Rather, they are about educating the client in order to allow him or her to make more informed decisions. They may still make choices you do not like but at least those choices will be made from a place of knowledge rather than ignorance and misconception.

The changing role of the homepage

The first step to homepage utopia is to help those with a vested interest to recognize its true value, rather than the current misconception they have of it.

The reality is that the role of the homepage is changing. It has long since ceased to be the primary point through which people enter a site.

Jakob Nielsen recently wrote the following in his book “Prioritizing Web Usability”:

Despite the importance of the homepage, however, interior pages accounted for 60 percent of the initial page views. A Web site is like a house with a thousand doors, and visitors can enter anywhere.

Users are relying increasingly on search engines to find the content that they are looking for. As a result they are much less likely to enter a site through the homepage.

I believe that the figure of 60 percent will continue to increase over the coming years. And it won’t just be search engines that cause this to happen, RSS feeds will have a significant impact too. As RSS becomes mainstream we will see an increase in users clicking directly through to relevant content, bypassing the homepage altogether.

That is not to say the homepage is unimportant. It continues to be a navigational tool enabling users to orientate themselves and helping them establish if a site has the content they are looking for. Every good web designer knows that the homepage should allow quick access to killer applications, search, site map and other relevant shortcuts. But it should also help the user orientate himself by confirming he is on the right site to meet his needs.

A good example of this approach is the current Apple website. Internal politics do not rule here. The homepage is not shared out among the various departments. Before last week it was completely dominated by the iPhone and now its all iMac. Apple knows that the majority of users currently coming to the site are after information on their latest announcement and so they make sure the latest “killer app” is front and center — literally. Users are left in no doubt that they have found what they are looking for and know exactly what to do next.

The perception that the majority of users never progress beyond the homepage is unfounded and the current competition for homepage space is unjustified. Just as many users will have searched for iMac on Google and come directly to the iMac section as will have entered via the homepage. That is why the iMac section stands very much on its own, making complete sense even without the broader context of the site.

Do not rush into the homepage

It seems to have become standard operating procedure for us as web designers to start look and feel development with the homepage. But starting with the homepage might not be the wisest move. Instead consider beginning the design process by developing lower level pages such as a standard text page. Not only do these account for 60 percent of initial page views they also make up the majority of pages on the site. And, more importantly, they don’t attract the same degree of opinions as the homepage.

By starting with a standard text page you have the opportunity to establish the design style, usability and accessibility of a site before it gets diluted by the land grab for homepage real estate.

If you work with the client to establish the look and feel of a site on a lower level page then they will be invested in the design. If they feel a sense of commitment to the design they will perceive it as more important and so are less likely to allow it to be railroaded by other content demands when the homepage is finally tackled.

Delaying the home page development isn’t just a “strategic” move — it is also the right thing to do. A home page should reflect the sites content at the highest level and signpost the user to key content deeper in the site. In my experience, the client often hasn’ t finalized all of the content in the initial design stage. It is hard to create an effective home page until you have a full understanding of what content it is meant to signpost and represent.

White space: The heart of the problem

When you do finally come to developing the homepage make sure you clearly communicate the importance and role of white space.

As designers we all know how important white space is and yet we are often extremely bad at explaining this in language that resonates with our clients. Comments like “it just looks better” or “everybody knows white space is important” do not help our cause.

So how do we explain white space to a client? I believe the answer is not in expounding its virtues, but rather in explaining the impact of too much being added to a page.

In his book “The Laws of Simplicity” John Maeda writes:

The opportunity lost by increasing the amount of blank space is gained back with enhanced attention on what remains.

Or to say it another way: the more you add, the more you detract from what is there. I think this should be the key to our approach when explaining white space to clients. Instead of selling white space on the fact that it looks better we should be selling it by pointing out that every element added to a page detracts from the rest.

To help the client grasp this concept I would like to propose an exercise you can complete with them.

Start by helping them list all of the elements they would like to see included on the homepage. Keep it simple and ignore standard navigations elements like the menu bar, site tools and search box. There is rarely debate about the importance of these elements so nothing is added by including them in the exercise.

Once you have completed the list, the next step is to assign values to each item. The value assigned equates to the amount of attention the client would like the user to pay to a particular item. Since a user only has a finite amount of attention to give we must therefore assign the client with a finite number of points to distribute among the items. Each item on the page has to be assigned at least 1 point — although if the client wishes to give more emphasis to a particular element they can assign it more points.

The number of points you give the client is entirely up to you — although I’ve found that 15 works well on average. If the client has specifically asked for a clean design then give him less. If he wants something busy and dynamic give him more.

What is important is what it teaches the client. He will quickly realize that the more elements he adds to the design the less he can emphasis any individual item and the less impact they have. Consequently, the fewer elements he adds the more impact they will have and so, indirectly, he will learn the value of white space.

There is no fold

The problem of white space is made worse by a client’s perception that users do not scroll. This misplaced belief means that they often insist that most, if not all, of the content on the homepage sits above this mythical line called the fold.

I refer to it as a mythical line because that is exactly what it is. It is a term borrowed from the newspaper industry and yet the analogy quickly breaks down. A newspaper fold comes at a specific point while on the web the point at which the user begins to scroll varies based on browser, resolution, window size and number of toolbars. But mythical or not, many clients are obsessed by it.

My final technique for bringing sanity to homepage design is to release the client from the constraints of the fold by convincing them that users do in fact scroll. In order to do this we need to understand where this myth originates.

It would seem that the idea comes from the very early days of the web, when users were unfamiliar with its conventions. I suspect this perception has primarily come from the early reports of Jakob Nielsen. However, this is unfair, because by 1997 he was already saying that things had changed. What is more, a recent report seems to indicate that over three quarters of users will scroll a page at least to some extent, with 22 percent scrolling all the way to the bottom. While 22 percent may seem low, the report actually suggests it is quite high. It argues that the results are distorted by repeat visitors who would have previously already scrolled all the way to the page bottom and be familiar with its content.

By demonstrating through up-to-date research that the scroll does not need to be feared, the homepage can both maintain its design aesthetics and handle additional content. Another area of conflict is resolved.

In conclusion

The bottom line is that we need to take the time to educate our clients. We need to explain how the role of the homepage is changing, demonstrate the value of white space and dispel the myths surrounding scrolling. We also need to pick our moment, knowing when best to tackle the subject of homepage design.

However education is not always easy because we need to be educating not just our point of contact, but also other stakeholders in the organization who are fighting over a place on the homepage. Getting access to these people can be more challenging.

How you decide to tackle this problem is entirely up to you. One approach I find very effective is the stakeholder workshops proposed by Shane Diffily in his recent A List Apart article “Educate Your Stakeholders”.

If you would like to learn more about effective homepage design I would recommend reading anything on the subject by Jakob Nielsen. His book “Homepage Usability” is excellent as well as various articles he has written. Finally, Derek Powazek has written an excellent article that mirrors much of my thinking on what every homepage should contain.

You know the scenario — a fantastic brief arrives in your inbox. A great client with a challenging problem is interested in working with your company to fulfill their business objectives. The only snag — they want you to work up some ideas and present them at a pitch. Oh, and while they’re at it, they’re inviting 5-7 of your closest competitors to do the same. But don’t worry you’re in with a good chance, they like the “cut of your jib”. The budget? Well, that’s with the board, who need to see your ideas in order to release any money, but it’s [insert figure to keep you interested here].

Many hours of hard work later you arrive at the pitch and stun the audience with your brilliance. Fast forward a couple of days and all the pitches are over. The client calls to inform you that the ideas weren’t quite there, but they were very, very close. Can you make xyz changes and resubmit the work? A few more tweaks, you tell yourself, and the work is yours. So you make the changes and resubmit the work.

Time goes by and you hear nothing. You call the client, they’re unavailable. You call again, still nothing. Finally, you get ahold of the client who informs you that you weren’t quite right/the project got pulled/is on hold/got a much lower budget/etc. Gutted, you count the cost to your business. A few months later, the client does launch their site and, hey, isn’t that funny, it looks an awful lot like the one you proposed …

The same old story

What I’ve described above isn’t new. We’ve all been there and it’s been part of winning work since the dawn of “work”. But there is growing concern within the digital industry about the spiraling cost of pitching to clients for new work. After all, it wasn’t always this way.

A few years ago we had the dot-com boom. Clients commissioned work from a new growing digital industry with little regard for their return on investment. Over the years the industry has matured and our clients approach to commissioning work has changed — dramatically.

A now over-serviced digital marketplace has led to increased client choice. And as digital budgets rise, clients are putting increasingly high demands on the agencies pitching for their accounts. Add to this the reluctance of clients to support agencies by paying for pitch work and it’s easy to see why agencies are feeling the pinch.

Recovery fuels client choice

After the initial fallout of the dot-com crash it’s clear that the industry has recovered and in many ways is booming again. Countless new agencies are opening their doors each week, yet the potential client base appears to be growing at a much slower rate.

Due to the ratio of agencies to available work, pitching agencies often find themselves included in large pitch pools with loose, fluid briefs based on embryonic marketing ideas rather than solid campaign objectives. The fictional scenario above isn’t really that fictional. It’s not at all unusual for individual agencies to be pitching against 5-7 of their contemporaries in the pursuit of a piece of work. Not the best odds.

It could be argued that the growing digital industry itself is to blame for this scenario. These loose briefs are potentially a product of the over-serviced industry, where agencies approach work without placing reasonable demands on their clients regarding upfront project information.

When the competition is so fierce it’s almost impossible to push back on the client and, as a result, simple requirements such as scope and budget are swept aside just to get a foot in the door. If we are prepared to receive poor briefs from our clients it stands to reason that the quality of their content will decline as time-poor clients spend less time preparing them.

Increased competition increases level of effort

This intense competition among agencies means that the level of effort required to win work has increased exponentially. Gone are the days where the pitch content consisted of a presentation giving a flavor of the pitching agency, their culture, their values and a demonstration that they understand the brief and the reason for the project’s being.

Clients now expect near complete solutions backed up with full strategic thinking and planning — none of which they are prepared to pay for. For the unsuccessful agencies this represents a huge loss in time, money and effort. Not to mention the opportunity cost of the work that never quite made it.

Even for the successful agency, the work given away during the pitch represents a large loss — especially when we consider the relatively low margins seen in the industry. We give away so much for free.

It’s clear that in the long run something needs to change. It’s difficult to think of another industry where this amount of unquestioned client demand and wastage is acceptable. Especially where so much work is done up front and the final selection by the client is often based on individual preference or luck.

Potential solutions

So, if the current situation isn’t working, where can clients and agencies look for advice?

Within the industry, for both clients and agencies, there is a general lack of considered guidelines with regards how to approach the activity of pitching. Every agency approaches a pitch in it’s own way and every client offers work out differently, making their choices against different metrics and fueling confusion and wastage. Unlike other industries, to my knowledge, our industry does not have any accredited bodies who can work to resolve this situation.

I don’t believe that clients are purely to blame for the current situation. As an industry I believe we need to work towards developing a set of common guidelines — embraced at least in part by agencies — to help potential clients get the most out of the early stages of the relationship building process, setting expectations and building long term partnerships with their agency partners.

The problem with putting common guidelines in place is bringing agencies together in the first place. And then ensuring that the guidelines are followed. There will always be market forces at work fighting against this as agencies put their bottom line first over common working practices. Competition between agencies will always be difficult to overcome, but as a maturing industry I believe that this is the logical next step that we have to take.

Standard guidelines exist in other industries here in the UK such as the kite mark, the PRINCE2 standard in project management and the international ISO standards for business processes. So it stands to reason that they could be developed to stabilize the pitch process for interactive work.

“Let’s make them pay!”

Many agency owners have suggested that pitches should be paid for. I don’t believe that paid pitching is the answer, but it is clear that agencies give away too much of their experience for free. I believe that common guidelines would work well to set expectations for both agency and client.

For this to be successful, clients would need to be more honest and open about their budgets and objectives, and agencies would need to offer more upfront support to their potential clients to help them make decisions and set realistic expectations about their budgets.

The pitch process should be a more collaborative activity between the client and a small number of potential agency partners. Perhaps we could also look to provide impartial industry assistance to clients, provided by the body responsible for setting pitch standards.

Issues often arise in the early stages of projects due to the fact the client is not particularly web savvy. Providing generic guidance has been very successful in other industries, such as architecture, where here in the UK the RIBA assists in the selection process for large contracts by commissioning work through a central RIBA organized board comprised of both industry experts and the client, working as a team to ensure the best possible client, architect match is found. This process was used to great effect in the selection of an architect for the new Scottish Assembly building.

Conclusion

I’ve covered several of the reasons for the problem and a couple possible solutions that could help stem the tide — but I alone don’t have the answer. That’s why I’m hoping this article might spark a discussion in the comments, because I’m very interested to hear the views of my contemporaries and the experiences of designers and developers around the world. There have been previous movements such as the no-spec campaign that have attempted to change the process, but I don’t believe that these have gone far enough. So, how can we work together to tighten up the pitch process? It’s over to you.

Clients are evil… at least it can feel that way sometimes. They seem to hinder more than help and so often they “just don’t get it”. We can talk enthusiastically about accessibility, standards and best practice but so often we are met with the blank stare of indifference from clients. They interfere in our designs and won’t pay for proper testing. Next to Internet Explorer they are probably the biggest frustration we face!

A Clash Of Culture

There is a very real divide between clients and web designers that seriously undermines many web projects. Moreover, the frustration is felt on both sides of the fence with many clients perceiving the web design community as “not living in the real world” and obsessed with technology for technology’s sake. They might also believe that they are being asked to pay for things that they don’t need.

At the heart of the problem lies a failure to communicate effectively. It is almost as if the two sides are speaking completely different languages. The aim of this article is to help you learn the language of clients and to be able to bridge that cultural divide, meaning a healthier working relationship and the business benefits that brings.

The Language Barrier

I am British and we Brits have a terrible reputation abroad. When we meet somebody who doesn’t speak English we tend to think they are stupid. We speak slower and louder in the hope they will understand us, when the reality is that they probably speak multiple languages and are far more intelligent than us.

We are often like this as web designers. Just because clients don’t know their XML from their CSS we presume they are stupid and start speaking slower and louder. The truth is they are often very savvy business people who have expertise of their own (just in very different areas).

The reason we find ourselves in conflict with our clients is because we make little or no effort to either understand their “culture” or “speak their language”. If we wish to convince them of the value of accessibility, standards or any other best practice technique, we need to learn to present it in a language they can relate to.

Return On Investment

Every culture has its defining characteristics. Understanding those characteristics and tapping into them is what allows you to really be accepted. Clients are no exception. At the core of their world view is return on investment (ROI). If we speak the language of ROI we will quickly find clients much more amenable.

Saying that the culture of clients is built on ROI does not mean they are solely concerned with making money. After all we know that not every website is directly about generating income. However, all clients desire to see some form of return on investment for splashing out the cash on their site. That return could come in many different forms depending on the type of site. While an ecommerce site is going to look for increased sales, a service-based company may focus on more enquiries. A charity website might want more volunteers while a government site might desire to educate or inform. Whatever the case the client will be constantly asking how any decision related to the site helps increase that return.

Let me give an example of where things can go wrong. If you read this website the chances are you are passionate about web standards. As web designers we are often put in the position of justifying our desire to implement web standards and it can be frustrating when clients fail to grasp the benefits. After all they seem so obvious to us:

• Separation of design from content makes a site easier to manage
• Semantic code makes it easier to read and interpret
• Standards make it easier to comply with accessibility guidelines.

The list could go on. However, unless properly presented, none of those reasons will resonate with a client. They are about making your life easier as a developer not about increasing ROI.

With a little “translation” the same arguments outlined above can be made more client friendly by focusing on their return for investment:

• Standards-based design will significantly reduce the ongoing development costs associated with your site.
• Web standards will make your site more search engine friendly so driving more potential customers to your site.
• A standards-based approach will ensure that as many people as possible have access to the products and services you offer.

When you are pitching to a prospective client, or even working with past customers, it will pay dividends to do as much homework about the client’s objectives, their target market and their business model. Then you can deliver the right solutions, framed in the right language that will really resonate with them. It also means of course, that the solution you put together is the best it can be, which will pay for itself when happy customers recommend you to their friends and associates.

Margin Of Return

Just because a technology or technique can provide a return on investment doesn’t mean it is justifiable from a client’s perspective. A client isn’t just concerned with whether it provides a return; they are also concerned with the margin of return.

A good example of the “margin mentality” is AJAX. The whole web design community is excited about AJAX at the moment. It can provide improved usability, a richer user experience and is basically damn sexy! From a client’s perspective AJAX offers return on investment in the form of increased customer satisfaction and repeat traffic. However, AJAX isn’t always quick to implement and that can damage the margins of return.

I was recently working on an ecommerce website aimed at an elderly audience. Although the site was generally very successful we were suffering from a significant dropout rate when registering address details. Usability testing revealed that users where confused by the address fields which required them to enter information onto multiple lines. Unfortunately we were unable to simplify the form and so decided to solve the problem using an AJAX postcode lookup. We then carried out a second round of testing and found that the new approach worked extremely well. Users found it much more intuitive and it successfully helped them complete the registration form. However, one user commented that an even easier approach would have been to simply add an example address next to each field showing what the user was expected to enter. Such an approach would have achieved the same aim as the AJAX solution but could have been implemented in a matter of minutes.

The problem is that, as developers, we are often drawn to complexity. We love technology and enjoy developing complex technical solutions. The downside of this is that complexity can be expensive. A client wants to achieve his aims for the smallest investment possible and so maximise his return. In the registration example above it was much more cost effective to implement the example text than it is to develop a sophisticated AJAX lookup system. So not only do we need to be considering return on investment when proposing a development solution, we also need to be looking for an approach that maximises the return.

Success Criteria

Even if we are thinking in terms of return on investment, that doesn’t automatically mean the client will see things the same way we do. As I said earlier it is important to understand what forms of return are important to an individual client. For some the cost of development might not be as important as speed of delivery. Others might be more interested in seeing increases in traffic even if conversion is low. That is why it is important to discuss what the client’s expectations are up front. The most common way of achieving this is to agree on success criteria for the project before work commences.

Clearly documenting a project’s success criteria right at the start not only improves communication between designer and client it also helps manage expectation and focuses the client’s mind on exactly what they want their site to do. Too many projects suffer from scope creep partly because the client doesn’t have a clear vision of what they are ultimately trying to achieve. Without that clear objective clients can often move the goalposts on a project as they gain a greater understanding of what is achievable.

The process of deciding on success criteria should be a joint venture between designer and client. This ensures that all parties are committed to the objectives and that they are realistic. Too often clients set unrealistic expectations on a project because they have no frame of reference as to what is possible. It is your job as the designer to provide that frame of reference to help them strike the right balance. Of course as with everything they will want to maximise their return and so you will need to clearly explaining the constraints you face in a language they can understand.

Not only should the success criteria be realistic, they should also be specific and where possible measurable. A desire to improve usability or increase sales does not constitute success criteria, rather these are broad objectives. The problem is that the designer’s perception of improved usability may well be different from that of the clients. Instead, try setting specific objectives such as a percentage increase in users reaching a certain call to action or key page. This will gives the client something tangible against which to judge the various development decisions being made. For example, if five hours of development work will be required to implement an approach that satisfies one of the success criteria, then the client can judge whether the return on investment is worthwhile.

It’s The Thought That Counts

Of course the reality of working on projects isn’t as black and white as I have outlined above. Sometimes it can be hard to quantify the return of a particular approach and even the best predictions can be wrong. However, it is the mindset that is important not the specifics of the implementation. We as designers and developers have to stop seeing our clients as the bane of our existence and start trying to understand what motivates them. We pride ourselves on being user centric designers however I would dare to argue that first and foremost we should be business centric designers. I believe that our primary role is to meet the needs of the businesses that commission us and that in order to achieve this we need to understand their aims and objectives.