Clients and sausages
The Sausage Factory
To what extent does the Client need to know what goes on behind the scenes?
In today’s age of design transparency, where designers are increasingly embedded within organizations, clients often end up knowing everything. This, I think, is a good thing, since a big part of my work philosophy is that “the best ideas come from collaboration”. As mum always said, four eyes are better than two, and it follows that two brains are better than a solo designer working à-distance.
But what about when the Client asks for something seemingly innocuous that is actually pretty complex? Do you make assumptions for them and run the risk of delivering something they weren’t expecting, or do you involve them in the problem’s complexity and get a better result at the risk of being annoying?
A friend of mine at a big foundation once put it this way: “They don’t need to see how you make your sausage.”
Many have weighed in on the topic, and the jury is still out. Any thoughts?
Hey guys,
Firstly, thanks for the link out.
My article was written more for the Project Manager type, who happily agrees to things simply to make their meetings as easy as possible. When I say there are no small changes, I mean that PM’s must understand that a simple character limit is more work than it sounds.
The question you raise is interesting though, and I believe that if the client is managing their own application they need to be aware of the moving parts. So a simple request like a character limit has implications to them too. A typical example is an online store asking “Ooh , can we have user reviews too”. It’s my job to explain to them exactly all the ways reviews can go right and can go wrong, and the extra workload it places on all parties.
That’s my 2 cents anyways,
Take care.
Des
@Des
Hey Des,
Yeah, I didn’t mean it as a snub in any way at all! In the past I’ve come across clients who want something relatively complex, but either don’t have the technical know-how to stay engaged, or simply aren’t interested (or both).
While I tend to think we live in a bubble where everyone around us wants - and is able - to discuss the details of a particular feature request, my guess is that the number of people and organizations out there who want a widget installed (”Just do it! Install some sort of widget or something. You can do that, right?!”) far outweigh the former group.
My guess, too, is that you were just ranting - I have no doubt you selectively reveal the sausage making, too