No edits. How to become the happiest designer on the planet

Three months ago I designed a corporate website. Having a good experience, I approached the task seriously: I conducted an industry audit, defined business goals, described user tasks and, on the basis of all this, created a pleasant and user-friendly interface. But, despite all the efforts, my design was rejected. I got a long list of edits, I was upset and, in order not to write something extra, I closed the laptop and went outside.

Fresh capital air acted, and I began to understand what was the matter. The design was good, and the customer is quite adequate. The problem, which turned out to be faced by thousands of designers around the world, was another.

Designer error

At the start of my career, getting a list of edits, I immediately started editing layouts, and then sent them back. The result of such communication was unfinished interfaces and dialogs of the following content:
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- This is complete bullshit!
- But I did everything, as you said!
- You are a designer. I don’t have to tell you what to do and how.
- :(

A lot of time passed before I realized that such conflicts had nothing to do with the quality of the layouts and the personality of the client, because year after year the level of my work increased, new customers appeared, but similar dialogues still arose. Realizing that the matter is different, I looked at this situation from the outside and saw what many are missing when working with a client.

Effective communication

At about the same time I was reading a great book, Burn Your Portfolio, the author of which argued that networking and communication influence success no less than the quality of work. These words, along with my personal experience, made me look at the process of working with clients in a new way.

Putting myself in the place of a client, I understood something. He does not understand anything in the design, but only waits for the wow-effect from our work, but when he receives static mockups, most of which consist of white space, he stops in bewilderment.

To avoid this, from the very beginning I explain to the customer that the essence of the designer’s work is not in creating special effects, but in solving business problems. The second thing that is important to mention is that each visual decision is not based on the designer’s taste preference, but on the understanding of the target audience of the service. Having fixed this at the beginning, the client will understand that designers are not descendants of great artists, but, at a minimum, people using facts and logic. Realizing this, the customer will evaluate your work through the prism of business problems, rather than visual expectations.

After that, I stopped sending layouts by mail. Ideal - a personal meeting, or at least a call. The client will certainly have questions that you must answer reasonably, showing your readiness. And if you are not there, then instead of reasoned answers, the client will make erroneous conclusions that will divert your communication in the direction of small details, the discussion of which can drag on and keep you away from the main goal.

I do not recommend sending a link to the prototype in InVision, because the ability to leave comments in one click will bring you a huge list of sometimes inadequate questions and again lead away from the main task.

A great option is video. Demonstrate the user's main path from entering the service to the target result. The client will receive the expected wow effect and see immediately how your solution simplifies the use of the product.

How to send layouts in the mail and not screw it up

There are cases when you still have to send layouts by mail. In this case, I can advise a few things:

- Be sure to describe the process of your work. Why did you do this and not in another way. Why this button should be here, why it is red and so on. This will show that your every decision is justified.
- Submit a video. It's very easy to create animation in Principle, more difficult in Framer and After Effects. There was a time, I created a project presentation in Apple Keynote (the project was accepted).
- Before sending layouts, answer simple questions that will help you to avoid banal mistakes. Is the user's primary goal clear on every page? Does the look stop at the right elements and in the right sequence? Is the visual hierarchy maintained? Does the visual weight of the elements correspond to their role in the interface? Are there spelling or punctuation errors?
- Well, and finally, re-read the task and verify it with the decision.

When I began to use these methods, my work began to be accepted more often without edits, as a result of which increased confidence and job satisfaction, which is a designer for the designer.

One more thing

Remember the beginning of the article. The client is not satisfied with the work, and the designer considers the reproaches unfounded. Why is this happening? Why are two professionals in their field in conflict? Perhaps because they simply do not understand each other? It may well be.

The client does not understand the essence of the designer’s work, while the designer, when receiving strange questions, considers the client inadequate. As a result, two seemingly reasonable people are in conflict.

But such cases occur regularly. Remember the stories when a long-term friendship collapses, couples disperse, business partners are judged, wars start. Remember this when your conversation is not going well. It doesn't matter with whom. Perhaps you, as a customer with a designer, just do not understand each other. Just do not hear. But this is so separates us from what we are striving for - happiness.

Have a great week!
Ilya