How far are you willing to compromise as a designer?
Today I received this email by Shawn, who asked my opinion. I let you first read, then I share my reaction. Your comments are more than welcome.
I’m been involved with design for many years but am quite new to the professional field and clientele. I place a strong focus on web standards, usability guidelines, and basic typography/design principles (i.e. no comic sans!). I do my best to persuade clients to follow these principles and justify them by presenting advantages to SEO, usability, and general aesthetics while still trying to cater to their needs as a unique client with independent customer needs. Walking that fine is a difficult dance!
I acknowledge the need to prioritize customers but, being an active designer myself, I seek to impress designers as well. As I mentioned, I’ve recently dealt with some difficult clients that had a unique but valid approach to designing. They’ve openly asked me to ignore many simple design principles that we all regard as a sin. Here are some examples:
One client was very stuck on having a giant background image and was very adamant about having the ability to horizontally scroll to the see the entire image. I told him “horizontal scroll bars are not a good idea! It’s a designer no-no.” He responded with “Well, very few of my visitors will be designers, so that isn’t an issue.” While I thought the scroll bar was a terrible idea, I couldn’t present clear evidence to avoid it from a visitors perspective. When I published the site, I felt embarrassed to show any other designers or publish it in my portfolio.
In another case, I was making a logo/identity and was experimenting with some logo shapes. My client asked that I try one of those “built-in photoshop shapes.” I tried it out and they loved it. For days I kept experimenting with new ideas, making figures, lines, and shapes but they were stuck on that generic build-in icon they saw in photoshop. I explained to them “You want an identity that is unique, all your own, something that truly represents YOUR business, it’s a bad idea to use something this generic and well known.” Again, they responded with a comment such as “Wwell I’ve never seen it before and I think it looks cool. I’m only a medium sized business and normal people won’t have any idea it’s built into photoshop.”
As a final example, another client I was working with wanted a “bubble navigation”. You would mouse over a bubble in the center and navigation buttons would extend out from the center. It wasn’t intuitive and, from a user-interface perspective, was a navigational nightmare. It was quite difficult to operate but the client felt it “looked cool”. They were far more concerned with look and feel than they were with ease of navigation.
As I said, customers are what sustain businesses and are crucial to the success of a website but what do you do when a clients priorities override all design principles? Have you dealt with situations such as these in the past? A lot of times the clients used the argument that “my customers aren’t designers, they’re stupid people and they’ll never know a good design or bad so I want a flashy rainbow gif dancing in the corner – that’ll catch and keep their attention”.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these issues. I’m struggling with requests to throw all my experience and insight out the window to instead strictly cater to a these unusual (though sometimes valid) customer requests. These are topics that I think other designers struggle with and I’m sure they would love to read your answers or discussion as well.
Obviously, the specific examples Shawn gives are familiar to most freelance designers. What I try to do in this kind of situation is to first congratulate the client for his interest in my part of the work. That’s the polite way to explain him that he is out of his role. Then I try to point out all the defaults of his idea and show him how it could be done better.
If the client sticks to his idea despite being showed wrong, you get three solutions:
- You tell him that you are the designer and that you don’t want the client to interfere in your work, then tell him to accept your way of seeing things or you will not do the job. This will give you the satisfaction of being an ethical designer, but you will not have anything to show in your portfolio and no money in your wallet.
- You do the work your way, not taking the client’s comments into account. This is risky, the client could be offended and not willing to pay you. However, if this works you will be a happy designer.
- You compromise and do the work as the client wants it. This means some work you will not show in your portfolio, but some cash in your wallet.
I did all these in the past. The first solution is good when you already have too much work and want to get rid of an annoying client. The second one can be done when you have a long term relationship with the client and think that you can take that bet. The third one will be used when you are desperate for money, with no more beers in the fridge.
I manage an internal marketing team for a corporation, but have had many design roles in the past from freelancer to agency artist. I’ve been in many situations like the ones described.
One of my biggest pet peeves as an internal marketing head working with outside agencies or freelancers is that there’s this air of arrogance where they feel I don’t know anything about design simply because I chose to work for a corporation rather than an agency. You have to approach the situation with a “the customer is always right” attitude. Of course, there’s always going to be the client that thinks they know what they want and what they want is a ridiculously hideous project.
That’s when you, as the designer, provide solutions because ultimately that’s what you’re there to do – provide solutions. Let them know that you don’t agree with them, and here are the reasons why. Suggest alternatives, taking into account the elements that they like or don’t like. A lot of times, they have an idea of what they want, but can’t visualize or execute without a professional’s help.
Ultimately, they’re paying you to materialize their wishes and dreams. You have to make it happen, annoying client or not. And in this market, every client is gold.
I don’t see the big deal about doing some of these bad design practices. Not everything we do will make it to our portfolio, there are some cases where we strictly do the work for the money. I think that if you were to be too picky and not do things that you didn’t like, it would be a little difficult to get by if you’re a full-time freelancer.
With every career or job, there will be ups and downs and this is just one of the downs of design job.
Sadly you just can’t help some people, even in the face of flawless logic they will insist that they are right.
I will put the best case forward but ultimately they are paying you for a service and if you want their business you may have no choice but to comply.
When that happens I just leave my name off the site and hope they will change their minds.
A site always feels like “your baby” but it’s not, it’s theirs.
Yeah, I agree. They said what they want, the designer says it’s a bad idea, they say they want it anyway. Ultimately, the client is right as long as the checks clear.
I think what he is missing here is that while these issues are often touted by designers, there are many real world reasons to bring up. Of course clients don’t care what the other designers are going to think…and they shouldn’t! The way out of this loop is to bring up more meaningful reasons that you can directly reference to the client’s users. At my last job I was an ecommerce designer and I worked with hundreds of clients in every industry, so I got a feel for taking the right approach to addressing the wrong decisions. Here are some example responses I would have come up with:
Horizontal scrollbars are not an aesthetic issue, they are a usability issue. User testing has proven time and again that most people overlook horizontal scroll bars, and they don’t play well with people who like to use their scroll wheel on their mouse. A quick internet search will find you plenty of data to back this up.
Built in photoshop shapes are not bad just because designers know them so well, I would take the angle that the possibility of someone else already having that logo mark is too great. It creates an unprofessional image and could possibly lead to future legal issues.
As for the bubble navigation issue, you could find an encyclopedia of references online as to why that is a bad idea. No one wants to gain site publicity by showing up in the mystery meat navigation section of webpagesthatsuck.com.
What I am getting at is that it is important not to personalize the issues you have with a client’s design. Like it or not, most non-designers think that design is merely subjective, all based on opinion, and generally a load of BS. The way to get them listening is to approach it from a non-designer standpoint, focus on user issues and decreases in ROI. When they hear how it will effect their bottom line, they will be all ears. It also doesn’t hurt to find articles explaining why these design ideas are bad, so that they don’t think it’s just your opinion at play here. Like it or not, clients rarely take designers very seriously.
Thanks for sharing this. I struggle with similar issues. One of my main (and most embarrassing) troubles is that my portfolio contains a lot of client-driven production work, but I have to show it to prove I’ve been doing this as long as I say I have.
Someone once told me to redesign everything so it’s what I wanted it to be, and then show MY final product. Firstly, who has that kind of time? Secondly, do you really want fake pieces in your book?
Something that has worked a couple times is showing the client the website of a big name, such as Apple or Nike. I show them and point out specific things: See how easy this navigation is? See how simple, yet catching the design of the page is? See how simple their logo is? Obviously not all client meetings have room for this technique, but I’ve found that aligning their brand with a famous brand sometimes shifts their thinking from push-button icons to something that genuinely meets their needs.
I feel your pain. Really, really. Now that I’m a freelancer, I have more say in the outcome. I’m actually looking forward to updating my online portfolio because I feel like a designer again!
If you feel forced to execute something you are not proud of you must decide how to walk the line. Mirko sums it up well with the 3 solutions above. I think there are two kinds of designers: those that work for their happiness and those who work for their clients happiness. Ultimately the most talented designers make themselves AND their client happy. And that happiness probably comes from compromise on both sides with a great client designer relationship. In summary: it is not about design principles… it is about the client designer relationship.
I would say that if you find yourself in these situations it is already too late, you’re stuck. When a client comes to me he has seen my work, he knows what to expect. They ‘v seen my work. Or the first thing I do is showing them some of my stuff. The would’nt come with somthing I don’t do because I made clear wher my style is. So I’d say part of your problem is that you are not confident enough at the beginning of your relation with the client. Therefore he sees an opportunity to play the designer (and every client wants to be the designer), and you’re stuck.
The client is like an animal. If you are strict and clear and rational from the beginning, showing your superiority in your field and how you are a real pro, then he will respect you and obey you.
Oh, by the way… NEVER let the client sit with you at your computer and “be their hands” where they tell you to move stuff around. NEVER ever. You immediately loose control of your design when you let that happen. See David R above… under “play designer”.
I do believe it is part of the designer’s job to confidently educate the client. All you can do is suggest that they have hired you for your professionalism and expertise, and that you would highly recommend against (insert silly client request here) and suggest an alternative with explicit non-subjective reasons why. I did this for one client who sent me a scanned drawing of what they wanted after I had already done several revisions.
I executed a version that was like what they asked (even though it was terrible) and i provided several revisions of alternatives and explained why their “concept” did not accurately reflect the nature of their business. They thanked me for time and indicated that they would not be pursuing the project any further. I was happy that I had my deposit, and no longer had to deal with a difficult client!
Stand your ground, be flexible within reason. It’s not just about money… You are an educated professional, and our job is to educate the public about design standards, and we need to keep those high!
I’ve had this happen to me on more than one occasion. I do the best I can to steer the client in the right direction but, ultimately, the client is the boss. If I don’t like the outcome, or the way they work with me, I don’t work with them again.
Hmm… Always quite the pickle. My stance on this is simple–are you a designer or a fine artist? I agree that it is our responsibility as designers to not only create something aesthetically pleasing for the client, but serve as educator and arbiter of good design standards. However, as stated above by Devolved, it is their baby, not yours. If you always want the project to be as you intended, stay at home and paint. If you want to be a professional designer with real paying clients, you have to do what they want. Period.
Now, none of this is to say that you should not make recommendations. That is your part as educator. But you will find more success if you play the part as client advocate. Nobody likes to hear that their ideas are wrong or bad. You don’t, right? Same goes for the client. But you will always attract more flies with honey than vinegar. Explain to them how “better design” benefits them as a business owner.
If the client is just outright impossible and you are already in the middle of the project, just give them what they want, crank it out and make yourself unavailable for future projects. We have contracts to limit revisions to keep the project from dragging on forever and require deposits to protect ourselves from non-payment. More than likely, if you give them what they want, they will be happy and pay (and brag and bring you referrals).
At the end of the day, design is a business. Do not confuse creativity with fine art. Be your clients advocate, not their enemy. You are here to provide a service. Without our clients, we don’t eat.
Cheers
Just my 2 cents from a non designer, if the client is willing to pay for what they want, and you’ve explained to them that you don’t agree and why, then either you can a) find another client, or b) since they are paying you, do what they asked for.
As a developer, I’ve had situations where I didn’t totally agree, and have given them better ideas. They wanted what I asked for, I did it, got paid, and never put the work on my resume.
I’m sure that if you’re a 1/2 decent designer, you will have more work coming in, most of which you can show off in your portfolio.
This is what I mentioned earlier. Sometimes, you just have to load the gun for your client so they can shoot themselves in the foot. Get paid, and move onto something else.
I thought you this article was going to be more about really compromising with yourself like making a racist website, or something you’re really against.
My portfolio only has a fraction of my actual work on it. I would honestly say about 30% of my entire career is on there.
i’m so with u! i learned that a lot as well. at the end, business result is what matter to the clients.
The biggest factor contributing to this typical designer/client not agreeing on the same thing is:
The client forgets that it’s not about them – as they too have their own clients to please/consider.
A lot of clients decide on things that they personally like instead of what their clients will prefer!
Do you want to be hungry and correct or, having done your best, paid?
I am presently facing a similar situation and would welcome advice. My principal strongly requests that I create cascading drop down fields on an input form. He believes having the information appear visually as a direct result of a user action improves usability. I think he is right.
It is also necessary I provide an equivalent capabilities should javascript be disabled.
Creating totally separate files, one with script and one without, is an expensive option. Double the time to write the code, double the time to store and maintain the files. This is for a non-profit.
I would appreciate input.
The customer is always right…until they are wrong.
“What I try to do in this kind of situation is to first congratulate the client for his interest in my part of the work.” GOLD!
I sometimes make an alternate version and include that in my portfolio. Chances are the WHOLE website won’t be mutilated by the client. So, you should only have to make a few edits to get it looking good again.
Hi there designers! I´m a new visitor to this blog. So first thanks! Lot´s of good “food” here ;0)
I´ve read the main lines in this discussion and of course, as a designer, I recognize these kind of dilemmas.
I´ve been a professional designer for nearly 9 years now. After the first 3 years in the business I realized that I had to change my process and how I integrate the clients wishes and demands into this process. I started working more analytic and with clear strategic grounds for my design.
Today I hardly ever create anything for my clients without running this process beforehand. Both the client and I (and other designers in my team) are a part of the same process and we all know why the product is designed the way it is. The project is no longer a product to satisfy the clients personal taste, but a tool within the marketing plan that serves a purpose – optain goals and visions for the company.
I had to learn about how organizations work, how they develop and change, but this has certantly been worth the while. I also feel more secure about my design and it is easier to messure the effect on the marked. (ok – that sounded like a commercial…;0)