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Designing with your Clients

I love it when someone writes a blog post for me. Well not officially anyway.
You see I was going to write a blog post about Designing with your Clients. I was going to tell you, for example, how it is not that bad, how you won’t sacrifice your design integrity or how it helps manage risks, etc. You know my usual sharing of insights with the list of reasons or pros and cons after it.
Well, it looks like I don’t have to write this post now as David Sherwin from Frog Design has created a really nice presentation for the HOW Design Conference on why you should Make Clients Part of the Design Process. He writes:

Why collaborate with your clients? Because when clients and designers work together as equals towards a shared goal, they can feel like they’re part of the design process. Facilitated collaboration can inform and inspire your design team, so you are empowered to create great design work. It can also create alignment, which contributes to ongoing trust and ownership from all parties involved.

Yep, that was what I was going to say too. (REALLY!) Anyways, check out his presentation below which is probably better than the post I was going to write. Heh-heh.

PS: Go full screen for maximum oomph! Via: Frog Design Blog

2 Comments
  • Alex

    July 13, 2011 at 3:00 am Reply

    It’s important to get a feel for how involved your client wants to be in the design process. I have worked with many clients who would be shocked if I asked their opinion on design beyond “are you happy with how that looks?”. But others are keen to have a lot of input and really see the designer as a tool to realise their creative impulses.

  • Paul Mckay

    July 8, 2011 at 12:09 am Reply

    Designing with clients does have it’s benefits but it also has it’s con’s.
    Bringing the client into the design process allows them to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth and helps them understand why you’re doing something in a certain way. They feel more important and can become a regular client due to the professional, friendly service that was provided.
    Sometimes though the client has a particular design in their head and doesn’t want to budge however much you try and persuade them to go for an alternative idea. This confrontation early on can often leave you both sour for the rest of the project, leaving you uninspired and never wanting to work with this particular client again.
    Working with a client can be a tricky business, getting it right can pay dividends, getting it wrong can result in a nightmare.

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