4/5/2021 0 Comments 5 Tips for a successful designAs a client, what can you do best to work optimally with a designer? And how do you, as a designer, get the right input from your client? The following 5 tips will help you on your way to a successful end result . The epidural does its job. Johan is sedated from the waist down. He sees the inside of his knee on the monitor next to the bed. The orthopedist shows him the tear in his meniscus. "No, don't cut it out there!" Johan looks at the orthopedist with rolling eyes. "That doesn't look like much!" He continues. "Go three millimeters to the left and start an incision there." Ridiculous? Certainly. Unless Johan is an orthopedist himself, but still. This has not really happened. You will not find many surgeons who are told by their patients exactly what to do. The patient relies on the surgeon's skill. How different is that with designers. Because when it comes to design, we all have an opinion. We are all designers. So when Johan has a new website designed for his company, we are not surprised when he says to the designer "can you make that line a little thicker?" And: “Oh no, I don't like yellow at all. Try it with green. ” Or of course the classic: "Can't the logo be a bit bigger?" Any designer can effortlessly shake up numerous anecdotes about meddling in their creative work. All well and good. But how do you, as a client and designer, approach the design process as effectively as possible? Hopefully, the following 5 tips will help you on the right track. 1) Talk about problems The first 'mistake' many people make when drafting a briefing for a designer is to say what they want, instead of explaining what's wrong. Design is not primarily about what something looks like. It's about coming up with a solution to a problem. After all, the most beautiful design of a toilet sign is worthless if the men keep entering the women's toilet. That is why everything the user experiences is part of the design. From logo to loading speed. From navigation to error notification. This requires a holistic view of design. An example: Suppose you basically like the design for the new homepage, but you miss enough brand experience. Do not ask if the logo could be bigger (your solution), but explain that the design lacks the necessary brand experience (your problem). The designer can then choose to make the logo bigger. But he or she can also opt for more white space around the logo, for example. Or an adjustment of the color palette, or other photography. 2) Set goals What should the new design achieve? What does success look like? Should the webpage generate more leads? Or fewer calls to the help desk? Is the wish for more brand awareness? Or a higher conversion from the shopping cart? A professional designer who knows what you want to achieve with a design will undoubtedly come up with the best design to achieve that goal. 3) Be smart about deadlines Many designers do not have enough time to make a good design. After all, creativity is difficult to enforce. Sometimes a designer sketches a design that has the same goal during the briefing. But usually he or she has to come up with quite a few versions before it hits. As a client, therefore, do not set too rigid or even unrealistic deadlines. But ask them. Because without a deadline, a creative work is never finished. It is best to agree a deadline with a designer that he or she proposes. As a designer, it is better to keep the initiative on your side. Set a deadline that gives you enough time, but also keeps enough pressure on the process. Because some (time) pressure is good for the creative process. 4) Don't argue about taste Personal taste is often a bad advisor when it comes to applied design. Do not let your feedback on a design be guided too much by your personal preferences. Maybe you personally hate the color purple, but your designer knows from experience and research of the target group that purple is the most suitable color for this design. The best way to deal with differences in taste is to test the design against the objectives. So don't ask yourself, "Do I like this?" But: "Is this the best design to achieve my goals (point 2)?" 5) Ask why
Children can drive you crazy by answering every answer you give them with the question 'why?'. Maybe that's why as adults we lost this skill. But in the design process the question 'why' is essential. If you, as a client, do not like the solution that the designer has devised, do not immediately air your opinion. Instead, start your reaction to the design by asking why he or she came up with it that way. In the context that you then get, you may start to think differently about the design. Conversely, if a customer says that he or she does not like the solution you have come up with, keep asking “why” until you know the reasons behind it. Because they are always there. And only by asking the question "why", you help the client to think further about the design.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ArchivesCategories |