: How can I work with a client that doesn't know what they want? I am helping a client/friend with a website design. He is a conceptual thinker. Yet his ideas are always inspirational but not

@Margaret771

I show the clients my design(s), and then I "sell" it to them. I explain why each element or function was chosen. I feel I am "expert" so I lay it all on the table by explaining why something will work and why something else won't, or why anything, etc... Most of the time this will bring the client back down to Earth and they will see things "my way". I try to develop a rapport so they will trust my judgement. Everything I do is for their best interest, and it's what guides the process. We'll see how well that works for me today. I am dealing with one such client currently ;-)

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@Pierce403

It sounds like you need to read this book before this becomes a situation you routinely find yourself in:

Design is a Job, by Mike Monteiro

Everyone pointing out that you aren't getting paid for this is might sound like a horse being repeatedly beaten to death, but it's a well deserved horse beating.

Small projects have just as many thorns as big projects, they just come in a smaller box.

Also, they aren't a designer — you are. Your job isn't just to push pixels, but to create something that suits your clients needs, while also being something you're proud to slap your name on.

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@Odierno310

If you have understood your clients needs and have carefully considered a solution, then you should have sufficient rational for your decisions making it easier to win over your client.

Explain to them exactly why you have done what you have done, and why it is the best solution for them at this time. Design can be perceived as objective when there is strong rational for its existence.

Once you've done that, the client will learn to respect you and will eventually trust you to make the decisions.

One more thing, the clients with the smallest budgets are quite often the biggest divas (in my experience).

You have to set boundaries and guide the process.

Remember that they came to you for this project.

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@Jamie315

I have a web designing business and the first thing you did wrong was not getting paid for the original design. There are a lot of free templates for people to use if they don't want to pay so you have to make it clear from start you need so much for a down payment to began. Half would be great to start with, never create more than one design unless you are selling templates especially if you are a custom designer. It saves time and you can focus on that particular design. Once the design is completed ask for the balance, remember your job is to do the design only, you are not responsible for the content such as text and personal images to go with it. If you have control of the web hosting, shut it down until the balance is paid in full.

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@Goswami567

Seriously get him to pay you each time he/she comes asking you questions, request money for consultancy next time, when next he/she his coming i bet the idea will sink

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@RJPawlick971

I am not getting paid for this.


There's your problem.

If the budget is unlimited, there is little incentive for the client to make decisions. It's just a playground at that point.

So, sans budget--which really is the easiest tool to wrangle in big thinkers--you need to come up with your own structure to handle the client.

Put the client to work. Ask for things like customer personas, business objectives, timelines, measurements of success, market research, etc. You need to some how wrap this project around reality, rather than their whims. Once you have a structure of what to peg the project against, then every request from the client can be measured against them.

When the client starts saying things like "what about rainbows?" you can then say "Well, OK, which persona are we targetting with that? Do you feel it directly addresses the needs of your business objectives? etc."

Force them to make pragmatic and objective decisions as much as you can.

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@Barnes313

This is an inherent problem with working for free: when you value your time at [CO], your client will too. And it sounds like you haven't structured the relationship so he knows exactly what to expect from you.

Although working for free undermines the value of what you do, there will be times you find someone with a good cause and you want to help them out, but they can't afford to pay you. In that case, my advice would be to write up a contract, same as you'd do for a regular client, outlining the project's milestones and charging the usual rate, and then applying a 100% discount to the work that's outlined in the contract. This establishes a professional, respectful relationship between both parties and helps make it clear that you're willing to do this much work for free, and anything beyond that is going to cost him.

A good contract is a designer's best friend. Even if you're not getting paid, it sets expectations and gives you a clean conscience about the work you do and the work you don't do.

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@Speyer780

When I have an initial meeting with a client, I give them a list of pre-briefing questions. There are two sets which might be useful here:


Pick three (five, etc.) websites you love — they don't have to
be from your industry. Why do you love them? What's appealing? The
color? The style? The programming?
Now, pick three (five, etc.) websites you hate. What do you hate
about them? What's wrong? Why would you never do that or want that on your site? (If you have a site you hate, don't use that as an example. We know you hate it; that's why we're redoing it.)


I find that having these two lists (and the why, which is the more important part) helps the client to articulate or at least demonstrate his/her tastes, and helps me to narrow down what the person really wants.

If you send these questions to your client, and after two days you have a 15-minute meeting and the person can't even come up with two websites he loves and two he hates, tell him to get back to you when he can. If he's that far in the clouds, your job will never get done.

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@Debbie163

I would gather a bunch of websites and show him so you can see which direction he likes. Pick both commercial and fresh websites.

Hope this helps.

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@Turnbaugh909

Some clients you have to be brutally honest with and flat out tell them to pick a direction because otherwise he/she is merely wasting your time.

You have to often treat these types of clients as children. Allow them to make choices but specifically engineer the choices they have --


"Do you want A or do you want B?"


NOT


"What do you want?"


If I were doing things for free.. I'd be very pressing on not wasting the time I'm willing to provide.

I also explain the idea of milestones. I'm willing to build XXX for you.... This is Milestone 1. Anything which involves additional work above and beyond this is Milestone 2 and will be additional charges. Of course, when working for free it's harder to impress how imperative this is to the client.

Also note, even if being paid for the work, there are clients with which money is literally not a factor and they can have this same problem. It takes some general business guidance, structure, and organization on your part. You have to be willing to say "No. I can't do that at this stage." and stand by it. People will listen if you speak up. But if you always imply it's "okay" they are running roughshod and continually altering the "plan", they will continue to do so.

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