My in-laws are just wrapping up building their home. We moved them in just this past weekend. It’s a really nice house as it stands right now, but there are so many tiny finishing touches to complete yet. Lights are missing, wall plug plates are missing, blinds are missing, missing some trim here, some paint there. Otherwise the house is completely livable, and they have contractors running about during the day trying to complete these final items.
During the build, I remember talking with my mother-in-law, and she had this dream and vision on how she wanted her house to be. She planned it down to the last detail. We were talking about some of her plans, and how the contractors missed some things, or failed to follow the plans for others. To me, this all sounded exactly the same as what I was going through with a website I was working on, except I was the contractor.
It’s rare that I get to actually talk to and hear the dreams from the client’s perspective. Between myself and the client is usually a buffer of Project Managers and Account Managers. So the client ends up becoming this abstract figure. I’m not on the phone calls to hear the client get excited, or to hear the tone they have when they critique something. This information gets filtered through the managers, and the non-essentials get cut. I think as a designer, we need to hear the emotions that are evoked with the designs we make.
I’m not really a client-management kind of person, so here’s the dilemma. I like the fact that there is someone to talk to the client, parse that information and bring it to me to work on. But I don’t like the fact that I miss out on the emotion. It’s almost a double standard I guess.
That’s why when I get those moments, such as hearing my Mother-in-law talk about her perspective with contractors, I grab a hold of them. I think that it helps me as a freelancer, and ultimately as a web designer to remember the perspective of the client. Through this whole experience I realized quite a few things. To name a few:
Building a website is a lot like building a house.
Like crazy similar. The step-by-step processes might be slightly different between the two, but overall it’s a strong metaphor.
- Blueprints = Information Architecture.
- Frame = HTML
- Electricity, Plumbing, Cable/Internet/Phone lines = JavaScript
- Paint, Floor, Finishes = CSS
I’m sure we can sit and make comparisons all day, but I think I’ve made my point. I thought this was valuable to help explain to clients what a website is actually valued at. Sure they can be as expensive as, if not more expensive than houses, but that’s not what I’m driving at. I mean that I have a hard time explaining to clients that it’s not reasonable to re-build facebook for $500 bucks. The metaphor helps me give the client some perspective as well.
The client isn’t dumb, they just don’t know the business.
Helping the client gain perspective is important. The client doesn’t know how to build a website. Chances are they don’t know how the internet even works. Ask them about how their business works, and they’ll be all over that. This also means that some of the things that they want isn’t always the best way to execute. That’s why they’re hiring you: you’re the expert, you should know the best way to make stuff.
Using my handy house metaphor: contractors won’t install electrical outlets in the shower, even if the client thinks its a great idea. They won’t build something that is structurally unsound because it looks cool. There are codes to follow. Tell the client about the “codes” you follow.
Contractors: read the spec.
The specifications that the client writes (or helps to write), are a statement of their expectations. If you don’t read it, you’re not going to understand what the client wants, and you’re going to miss the mark, which in turn is bad for you because you look incompetent. My mother-in-law was telling me about a few instances like this. She wanted a fan/light installed in a room. Instead, the electrician cut 4 holes for pot lights, and installed them instead.
A good way to avoid this mess, is to write the specifications, or to write the specifications with the client, that everyone understands and agrees with. When you write out the expectations, you will naturally have a better understanding. That helps me as a freelancer, and it helps the project along because you’re guiding the process. There are situations where this can’t be avoided, and you have to use specifications written by the client. If that’s the case, maybe take the time and create a “project brief” document based on their specifications, and ask the client to review it to make sure everything is correct. This way, you’ve read their spec, re-iterated it into language you can better understand, and you’re presenting you understanding back to the client. Everyone should at this point understand what’s going on.
Clients: go easy on the micro-details.
Now this one is less of a lesson and more of a plea. Coming from a contractor’s perspective, it’s hard to read a dictionary sized spec and get everything right. People go to school for years studying huge manuals and still won’t get 100% on their final tests. Your expectations are too high.
You are hiring a designer, who is trained and skilled in what they do, and who has a better idea on how to execute your overall vision. You might not know about usability issues, or accessibility issues, or search engine optimization, or that this font won’t be pixel perfect because every monitor/every operating system/every browser renders those fonts differently.
If you did know about all of that, why did you hire someone?
In the end, while this is your website, you are not the user. It’s the designer’s job to speak, and make your website for the user: your clients. And remember, your clients aren’t stupid, they just don’t understand your business. The website that your designer is making is there to help them along.
Open question: what metaphors, or methods do you use to help explain similar concepts to clients?
Tags: briefs, clients, contractors, freelance, house, specs, websites
First of all, I didn’t know your in-laws were building a house. Please congratulate them for me. I like your post and it shows a lot of maturity and understanding of the process.
I agree, that you may not have all the interaction with your client that you want, but as a free lancer you do. Just remember that you perform different functions depending on the hat you are wearing.
As a free lancer you wear all the hats and your primary job is to define the service you are providing, and make sure all the players meet their obligations to your project timeline. Including your client……they need to be clear on their role, and how they can effect the outcome.
I like what you have said, but as a “Contractor” your primary role is to manage all the variables in order to properly orchastrate the required outcome.
That is the same whether you are working for yourself or for another company.
I like this posting thingy.
Dad.