I’m facing a little crisis of design conscience. We recently presented a few concepts for a product, and, after a lengthy review in which I respectfully spoke my peace about the best direction for the particular project, the client made what I believe to be poor choices for moving forward. In moving forward, I am having an incredibly difficult time remotivating myself to solve the problems that have arisen from the client’s direction, problems that were already solved with the unchosen directions.
Note that this isn’t a case of hurt feelings or not having a thick enough skin. I’ve had clients dislike designs. It doesn’t bother me; I’ve never taken it personally. In this case the client was incredibly happy with all of the concepts individually. They have simply have directed us in a way that, in my opinion, is destining the product for mediocrity.
It is my a responsibility as a designer to create a unique, successful product, and I am having trouble believing that goal is achievable. Has anyone experienced anything like this? How have you worked through it?
It happens. One of the beauties of being a consultant is the next thing will come along shortly enough. In the past these are a few things I have done in this situation:
THE EDIT > don’t be in the situation in the first place. Pre screen the concepts to make sure that every single one of them is something you would be happy developing further. If one slides in there that is sub-par just to have an extra concept, Murphy’s Law proves that one will be chosen every time! That obviously doesn’t help you at this point, but something to remember for next time.
THE HUSTLE > work overtime and develop the concept they selected and also develop your choice. You are over delivering, but this has worked successfully for me in the past when I compare and contrast how much one solution solves the intended objectives oner the other. In your case this may work since they liked all the concepts! Shouldn’t be a hard sell.
THE COJONES > just literally tell them they selected the wrong concept, tell them why, and tell them what concept better serves their long term goals for the product. Believe it or not, I’ve done this quite a few times, and it has worked successfully. This is the big difference between what I would call “Design Services” in which you do whatever the client says and a “Consulting Partner” where your opinion, expertise, and point of view are valued. It can be a tough transition at first, but often the honesty is appreciated. As a note on this approach, if they reject the proposal, you have to be prepared to develop the concept they originally picked to build the relationship or they may walk.
Side note, I’m moving to Encinitas in the next few weeks…
Totally agree with Yo on this one. I haven’t worked with clients as high-profile as he has, but at least in the small scale consulting I do, these techniques usually work. More often than not when I ask to have a meeting (or phone conversation) with a client over a poor decision they’ve made, and after I explain the benefits of my solution, they give me the freedom I need to make it work the best way possible. The key for me is to explain it in a stern yet empathetic tone. You don’t want to make them sound like an idiot, and want them to know that you have their best interests at heart.
As far as remotivating yourself, right now I’m actually trying to do the same thing. It seems like the best thing to do is really just to start something new. We love doing this work, so just dive right back in!
It’s a little different in this case. To extend the doctor analogy, it would be like if you, as the medical professional, assessed that the patient needed a heart transplant, but the client/patient insisted on a kidney transplant because he liked that better… And you have to do perform the wrong operation…
Never present work you are not proud of, never. The only good strategy is to only bring your best. If that is one concept, so be it. If that is no concepts, I’ve been there. I’ve had to tell the client we needed another day or two to get it right and that it would be worth it. At the end of the day, your name is associated with this work.
Amen to everything Yo said.
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Now I know, that everything I ever experienced as a junior designer was “design services” as
he put it. I’ll remember that one…
At times it really sucked. Perhaps I’d not have left for the corporate site of the biz, if I’d been
guided by a manager like that during my junior years.
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Not to stress the medical analogy too far, but I have already had Doctors, who made
me the patient steer the process. (strange)
Sometimes that might not be the worst in product develepoment as well, as the patient knows
best where “it hurts” and where to look deeper into it. On the other hand, if the patient already
knew the cure he wouldn’t consult a doctor…
Moving forward…circling back with client again can help.
I suspect you already have a recap that clearly summarizes review, and where you align on next steps. If not, you can use this to gain more clarity to underlying rational and motivations for direction chosen (and direction not) before moving forward.
The direction selected may have been driven by factors not captured in design brief, or were not clearly communicated (or understood) at review stage: technical feasibility, tooling/production investment, patents, time-to-market, etc.
Ultimately, it is the client’s investment, and they absorb all risk of program success, or failure. But, gaining more clarity on client’s core motivations and rational is one key way to re-motivate yourself, and foster a collaborative partnership for success.
In the end, if we have a paying client, we’re all service providers and are tethered by our client’s direction.
As disconnected from our own goals as it may be, mediocre products often sell like hotcakes and $$$ is the end-all be-all gauge of success.
Aside from not utilizing your expert opinion, at least the client was cordial and offered positive feedback on all the concepts, so you know the service you’re providing is valuable to him/her.
Thanks so much to everyone for the advice. There has been a bit of circling back, and, while I still disagree the direction and haven’t found a good solution yet, I don’t really see an option other than creating something I can be proud of. It may just take a bit more brow furrowing than usual.
Yo, you’re going to love Encinitas. Feel free to stop by our studio any time.
Luckily there are a lot of other designers who will do that work. Life is to short to TRY for mediocrity… it happens by accident all the time as it is.
Sometimes the process gets away from us, or we loose site of something, it has happened to me many times, but if you are aware of it at the time, you have the chance to help guide the client to something better.
Don’t get me wrong, we all love great stuff that’s been worked out nicely and his job is certainly to guide the client - but in this gentleman’s case, given that he’s already fought the fight, he might end up with the best product possible given the client’s wishes…and if that product does well in it’s intended market but isn’t what the designer would have developed himself, it’s only his vanity that is compromised. Successful sales = successful product.
Sure, it isn’t to us -as designers-, but to the commercial world we provide services within, it certainly is. That awesome Italian designed cheese grater at the Kitchen Store is a pleasure to look at, hold and probably to use…but they say it doesn’t sell worth crap. On the same wall just a foot away, the Far East sourced cheese grater that looks like it would take your skin off apparently sells like hot cakes - ask the Product Category Director at the Kitchen Store’s corporate offices which one is successful. And if ‘the people’ have voted with their money, which one of those two products was successful?
This is a really crumby way to view our profession. When you view us as a service you take the decision and leadership away. Everyone on this board should be representing themselves as a design leader not a service provider. If you do not strive to be a leader or an expert you will remain a lacky that just pushes meaningless work.
I knew this topic would raise some hairs on the backs of some necks! Creative services are always subjective - but to work within a development system and be a true partner you have to ‘get along with the folks paying the bills as well as the folks filling in the other pieces of the pie’. No one said to not strive for great products and no one said to act as a ‘lacky’ or follow instead of lead. Egos can wreck a business relationship as quickly as they can form one. It may be sobering to admit that our profession is one of several that contribute to great commercial product success stories - and no one is saying it’s an unimportant piece of that pie but please remember the original poster was looking for ideas on how to react to this situation he’s found himself in. Just as Yo mentioned, “As a note on this approach, if they reject the proposal, you have to be prepared to develop the concept they originally picked to build the relationship or they may walk.” But to truly stick to one’s guns and take the high road some of us envision, he could conceivably say, “I’m sorry but I can’t develop that idea - I feel it is a poor direction and would not best serve your business goals.”
Creating relationships is all about creating trust and the only way to get there is to establish yourself as the expert and leader. No one suggested sticking to your guns and pushing people around. Part of being a great designer is knowing how to influence and show a forward vision. Design is also much more than the look of the product. A good designer/design manager is designing with the business needs in mind. If they are not then they are not doing their job.
As far as the critique goes, I agree with Michael’s comments about editing before showing designs to the client. These edits should be taking all the business needs into consideration and the ones that do not meet those needs should either be edited out or you should have reasoning to back them up. I never show our greater business designs without doing this. When this step is skipped you open the discussion up to personal opinion.
J
BTW…It is okay to say no as long as there is data, strategy, business reasons to back it up.
In the end, if we have a paying client, we’re all service providers and are tethered by our client’s direction. As disconnected from our own goals as it may be, mediocre products often sell like hotcakes and $$$ is the end-all be-all gauge of success. Aside from not utilizing your expert opinion, at least the client was cordial and offered positive feedback on all the concepts, so you know the service you’re providing is valuable to him/her.
This is a really crumby way to view our profession. When you view us as a service you take the decision and leadership away. Everyone on this board should be representing themselves as a design leader not a service provider. If you do not strive to be a leader or an expert you will remain a lacky that just pushes meaningless work. J[/quote]
I knew this topic would raise some hairs on the backs of some necks! Creative services are always subjective - but to work within a development system and be a true partner you have to ‘get along with the folks paying the bills as well as the folks filling in the other pieces of the pie’. No one said to not strive for great products and no one said to act as a ‘lacky’ or follow instead of lead. Egos can wreck a business relationship as quickly as they can form one. It may be sobering to admit that our profession is one of several that contribute to great commercial product success stories - and no one is saying it’s an unimportant piece of that pie but please remember the original poster was looking for ideas on how to react to this situation he’s found himself in. Just as Yo mentioned, “As a note on this approach, if they reject the proposal, you have to be prepared to develop the concept they originally picked to build the relationship or they may walk.” But to truly stick to one’s guns and take the high road some of us envision, he could conceivably say, “I’m sorry but I can’t develop that idea - I feel it is a poor direction and would not best serve your business goals.” [/quote]
Creating relationships is all about creating trust and the only way to get there is to establish yourself as the expert and leader. No one suggested sticking to your guns and pushing people around. Part of being a great designer is knowing how to influence and show a forward vision. Design is also much more than the look of the product. A good designer/design manager is designing with the business needs in mind. If they are not then they are not doing their job. As far as the critique goes, I agree with Michael’s comments about editing before showing designs to the client. These edits should be taking all the business needs into consideration and the ones that do not meet those needs should either be edited out or you should have reasoning to back them up. I never show our greater business designs without doing this. When this step is skipped you open the discussion up to personal opinion. J BTW…It is okay to say no as long as there is data, strategy, business reasons to back it up.[/quote]
I agree it’s wise to filter before each client interaction, but to go so far as to say the designer fully understands and takes into account the marketing nuances, cost implications, etc that may be injecting themselves into the process might be a bit much. I agree our profession requires us to be forward-minded thinkers but we must also be ready to react to forces around us that might prompt change beyond our control - whether we’ve mastered influence or not - I didn’t mean to offend your inner-designer but I want the poster to keep in mind that the client or the project manager or marketing director or the plant engineer might have reasons for choosing directions we don’t like. And especially if his firm is a consultancy, he might not have insight into some of those outside forces. Instead of this book we’ve written, I guess we could have just offered, “filter what you present, reiterate what’s best and temper your expectations”.
