Over the years, I have always tried to be a people-pleaser. I wanted clients to love my designs, so as we went through the review process with the client, I smashed together, combined, and sacrificed parts and pieces of various concepts for the sole sake of making the client happy. My goal was to create a design that the client would truly fall in love with. Many times, what we eventually ended up with is what I affectionately refer to as a "Frankensteined" design.
As a marketing communicator, the downside to this approach is two-fold. First, the message and feel of the original concept can be lost or diluted through this process of combining multiple concepts together. Second, although it's important to make the client happy, and I definitely want the client to love his or her website, the website should not be designed for the client. It should be designed in a way that speaks to the client's audience.
Too often, we get wrapped up in personal, subjective factors such as color, a specific photo, or a dislike of a certain font. The goal of effective marketing is to identify the client's problem and develop a clear, creative, and concise message that will compel the client's audience to take action. Don't get me wrong, the visual language of the site(color, fonts, etc) is still important and plays a pivotal role in the branding and design. However, understanding and engaging the end user is the key to creating an effective web presence.
As designers, we need to challenge our clients and ourselves as we go through the design process. The next time you start a project, ask yourself these questions:
1. Are you designing for yourself?
2. Are you designing for the client?
3. Are you designing for the client's audience?
Personally, I think the answer to all three questions is YES. We are designing for all three variables.
Are we designing for ourselves? To an extent, yes. We want to create exceptional designs and we want to be proud of the designs we create, even if it may be on more of a subconscious level.
Are we designing for the client? Certainly! We must take into account the client's wishes and desires. As marketing professionals, we are also obligated to educate the client on sound marketing and design principles that produce results.
Are we designing for the client's audience? Absolutely! Without a doubt, designing for the end user's needs is the key to helping your client align their business goals with an engaging website.
The challenge comes in as we try to balance each variable and devote varying amounts of time and effort to each of these users( the designer, the client, the client's audience). Ultimately, if you design for the client's audience, all the other factors should fall into place, which translates to happy users, happy client, and happy designer!
