Is your website “fresh”?

One of the most annoying things designers have to deal with is translating what their customers have to say into plain English. Here are some quotes I’ve gotten in the past:

• The design just isn’t “fresh” enough!
• It needs more spunk!
• There’s not enough pizzazz!
• It lacks glamor.
• The tables are exploding!

Do you see what all of these phrases have in common? None of them actually mean anything. All of the above comments are subjective. When you ask them to define further, they’ll say something like “I won’t know what I want until I see it”. That my friend is total bullshit.

This is where you have to take a step back and figure out what it is going to make this particular customer happy. Personally, I don’t take web design customers that don’t (a) know exactly what they want, (b) respect and trust my design judgement, or (c) at least utilize actual users when they make design decisions. If they don’t follow any of the above criteria, it’s really hard for me to make them happy. Another caveat to add here: generally, when client’s sway away from my design and incorporate their “ideas”, the designs almost always look like shit. They’re rarely ever portfolio worthy. I recommend if this is the case to fire that client. It’s a win-win for both parties involved. 

Another thing to watch out for with this type of client is that it’s impossible to get something right the first time. No matter how good the design is, they always want endless iterations. Many of them want 3-4 demos before they’ll even get started—the best designers in the world do ONE demo and iterate from there—that’s how I roll.

This is precisely the reason why I advocate a user-centered design philosophy. I think it’s a terrible idea to design by committee and what stakeholders ask for rarely amount to anything that improves the user experience, usability, or sales—on the contrary—it usually hinders all of these things.