How To Get A Website Design Your Clients Can’t Say No To?
Does it not hurt to see you web design, with which you toiled hard night and day, not go past the sign off stage?
It is perhaps the most challenging part of the whole web designing process. Not only is it time consuming, it also takes toll on your patience level as a designer. And if you do not play your cards right, you will end up with a dissatisfied client.
So, how do you make sure that the design you produce is the one that is build? How do you get a go ahead from the clients’ side?
There is no magic formula for it. However, there are certain things that you can do to make it possible.
Essay the role of the client
At the very beginning of the web project, make it clear to the client what role they would play in the work process. You can deliver what they need only if you have a clear understanding of their need and demands.
The clients should focus on the broader issues while you take care of all the details involved like design, layout, typography, color scheme etc.
Understand the Clients’ Business
Before you sit down to draft the design, research about the company behind the website. You should have a clear understanding of their business objectives, organizational structure and their marketing strategies. Not only will your design be more in accord with the company but also you can justify your design decisions.
Know Your Target Audiences
An ideal website should essentially be user-centric. But for that, you will need to have a clear understanding of the target users and their behaviors. Try meeting up some users in person and know their expectations from the site.
Understanding the tastes of your target audiences gives you a reality check so that you can think beyond personal preferences and design for people whose opinion really matters.
Use Mood Boards
Create a series of Mood Boards to present to the client. Mood boards contain a collection of colors, typography and imagery that represent different themes or directions the design could take. They allow the clients to try out various design approaches to decide on what looks best and you will have a clear sense of direction for the website layout.
Samples and Examples
Often it happens that it gets difficult to figure out what exactly the client has in mind. The best way to counter this is to ask them for sample websites that they like. You can also show them screen captures from some sites and explain to them why they will suit the project. Get their feedback and work on those lines.
Present Your Designs
A design should speak for itself! However, presenting it to the client can make the speech much powerful. Explain your design decisions to the clients and tell them how it caters to the needs of their audiences and meets their business objectives. Don’t just e-mail the design to the client and expect them to interpret your work on their own.
Provide Written Supporting Material
It may so often that the client seeks further opinion about the site design. To make sure that your design is understood as well there; provide a written documentation in support of the design explaining all the elements of the site. By putting a written explanation with the design, you can be sure that everybody who sees it gets the same message.
Get Relevant Feedback
You can sure ask the clients what they think of the design but also encourage them to think from the users’ perspective and what they will think.
There you are. Follow these tips and be witness to your design getting approved and the client nodding in affirmation.
Maneet Puri is the managing director of LeXolution IT Services, a premier provider of website maintenance services and KPO solutions. He has spent a significant part of his life in the website design services industry shares his experience at his blog www.lexolution.in/blog.
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