Can you make it snazzier? Why design-by-committee doesn’t work.

Throughout my career, both as an in-house designer, and in running my own design business, I’ve seen businesses that seem to take great joy in the design-by-committee mentality… everyone wants to be part of the process, and there are never benefits to this. Think of it this way: if you hire an electrician, do you follow him around all day and tell him how to rewire your house, or do you just trust his expertise and let him fix whatever is wrong?

“My nephew is good at the Photoshop… why don’t you call him? I’m sure he can help… he’s ten.”

“My wife really likes blue. Can you make the red more blue?”

“I really need this to “pop”. Really jump off the page at the reader. Can you bold and underline this whole paragraph?”

Designers, by nature, are problem solvers. We go to school, we attend seminars, and we work tirelessly to perfect our craft, so why do outside departments feel the need to over-supervise us? Here’s my advice. Whether your client is internal or external, ask questions that go beyond the creative brief. Ask questions until you’re blue in the face. You’re working with this person; make yourself an asset to them.

What are the client’s motives?

Why is this project important to them?

What message is most important to them?

What does the client hope to accomplish with this project?

Can you or the client define a measurement of success? Is it a sales goal, a customer action, etc.?

Even if you’re not familiar with the client’s industry (or business), you can use that to your advantage:

“I’m sorry, I’m not really familiar with your field… can you explain it to me?”

“I’d like to get a better understanding of how you see this project fitting in to your overall sales process…”

Show your client that you (and your team) are a valuable resource to the company by communicating, taking the “high road”, and meeting the client (more than) halfway. Most times, the client will see that you’re truly expressing an interest in their project and they’ll let you be the expert when it comes to design.

Speider Schneider from Smashing Magazine explains,

“The sensible answer is to listen, absorb, discuss, be able to defend any design decision with clarity and reason, know when to pick your battles and know when to let go.”

As Speider mentioned, I suspect that with the proper amount of communication (I’m a trained professional), a little push-back (this is why bold-ing the whole paragraph won’t work), and a lot of patience we might just have a shot at changing things.*

Read the inspiration for this article by Speider Schneider here at Smashing Magazine.

*Of course, there are those “clients from hell” that are probably beyond help…