Listen to Your Web Design Client

The Role of Listening In Creating Suitable and Effective Web Design.

Listening to your web design client is essential to creating a web site that communicates effectively, and genuinely meets your client’s needs. The mere fact that you create a good-looking web design does not mean that it will be effective or communicate the right message. Here is a lesson I learned in this regard: I created the web design draft shown above for a client who works with environmentalists and others who are experts in ecologic preservation. I thought it would be the perfect ‘look’ for my client. After all, it has beautiful color and an evocative image.

While my client agreed that it looked appealing, it failed to meet his needs. Why? The answer lies in the details. My client knows the views and attitudes of his customers well. For example, as ecologists, his customers generally view development as an intrusion upon protected environments. Therefore, showing a graphic of a worker and a wooden platform sends the wrong message. It may be interpreted by customers as wetlands being surveyed by a developer. That detail would strike a sour note with potential customers. Secondly, my client observed that the trees in this web design are not native to the area he serves. While that detail would be inconsequential to most people, it would be noticed by his customers. Because of their expertise, they would discern these incongruous details quite readily. That visual mis-communication could result in a lack of confidence in our client, and the potential for lost business.

Small details, yes. However, they are the sort of visual taboos that must be avoided when seeking to reach the specialized and knowledgeable audience our client serves. Therefore this web design is shelved. Now a bit wiser, we are creating a new web design that gets the details right. This is a good lesson for all web designers. Listen carefully to your client and seek his input. He knows his customers well. What he knows can often spell the difference between a truly successful web design and one that merely looks good on the surface.

The author, Donald Peterson is the Creative Director for Newark1.com Web Design.

Tags: web designers