Design Rules to Live By #2
Design Rule #2 has to do with communication… not just the fact that we need to, but that we need to proactively. Communication is our biggest ally in completing successful projects…
Keep the lines of communication open with those involved in the project to catch any mid project scope changes, and even more importantly understand why the changes are happening.
Communication, communication, communication! No matter how talented we are as designers, or what magic we can engineer as developers if we fail to communicate we are setting ourselves up for failure, and project limitation.
I experienced this recently as I was working on a design for a project at work. I had what I thought to be all the info necessary to get the design phase under way, so I buckled down and started cranking on what I thought was a really solid design, once the design was done and we needed to convert it to html/css the scope of the product changed, and changed so drastically that it damaged the integrity of the layout, more changes came, and before you know it I was on the hot seat for creating a design/layout that didn’t fit the product.
Was it entirely my fault? No, but had I been more proactive with stakeholders (product managers, marketing, engineering) I could have made adjustments in my approach and design that would have saved time, and frustration and more importantly delivered a product that everyone is satisfied with, and that I am proud of.
We cant wait for other people to communicate… Granted had all parties communicated like they should things would have been different, but it just isn’t realistic to think that communication will always be crystal clear, deadlines, stress, and multiple projects can all contribute to people forgetting to share valuable information.
This is just an example from my experience, where have you seen a breakdown in communication, and what have you done to establish better communication?
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences, I am sure we can all learn from one another’s experiences and insight.
~ Aaron I
Dropped by via your tweet
anyway, I have to agree wholeheartedly with you – communication is a vital part during the design process. I just started off with freelancing lately, and is still occasionally improving the design of the first project – a result of amateurish communication. The client conveyed what they wanted through emails, and while I was doing the mockups, I also started simultaneously on converting it to HTML/CSS by the third version of the mockup (when I handed it over, we were at version six). And afterthat, I still had to work on the design because the client wanted things to be changed (much to my frustration but I knew it was my fault). That’s a very good lesson learned on the importance of communication 
at least, I understood it’s importance after my first project so I won’t be wasting time again for my future work.
Thanks for sharing the tip!
.-= Teddy´s last blog ..Infrared for your Monday blues – Genting Highlands =-.
great stuff. i too have experience with client but what we do finally client satisfaction is more important than anything else.
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Good!!
Cool acticle!!
Dude, similar thing happened to me a few months ago…
An existing client of ours, who we were already doing some Managed IT work for, came to us looking for a complete overhaul on their public website. The first few meeting were with the CEO and another guy. So I was able to get a good idea of what they wanted and created a few mockups. Well the day we went to meet with them at their office to show them our work (and thinking we would get approval to begin development) the CEO’s wife (the CFO) was in the meeting and completely hated everything I had done. The worst part about it is she had no idea what she liked, but she said my mockups didn’t make her feel “warm and fuzzy” (those were her exact words).
I was livid…
Over the course of the next month we went back and fourth with different versions of the mockups. They even brought in a 3rd party designer to do some mockups of this piece of crap puzzle piece. It was a real cluster-F-BOMB! Finally, a light bulb went on, and a design was chosen. They were just registering their son for college, and liked the schools website and color scheme, so that’s what I created for them. In the end they were very happy with the project, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I think of them.
.. just being honest.
.-= kyle steed´s last blog ..Let’s Be Honest =-.
My clients love my work before I even pitch it. They always double my proposal estimate and call me at home to make sure that everything is okay. Sadly these clients live in my head. I’m just joking, that’s really what happens, I’m in an emerging market and for the most part all the guys here really suck, so most people are really shocked when I give them something that’s not garbage. Okay.. that’s completely unlike to get all boastful on the net.. I did have a bad experience once, but the client is rotting in my basement, and his brother is much more agreeable.
BTW checkout my site or bookmark or whatever, the JQuery killer coming soon. In between curing Aids and cancer, I have very little time to design my site as well. I really need to get my tutorials up and running. Am I off topic yet?
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