Many web development projects - large and small alike -

can produce difficulties for both sides of the

designer/client relationship. There are opportunities for

designers and clients to become frustrated. Most

businesses have little experience of commissioning web

projects, and for designers it is difficult to communicate

their needs to clients.

There are a number of concepts that will help both

sides of the relationship, and most importantly from the

client side of the equation, keep costs down.

Spend Smart

Remember what services you are buying. Paying a web

designer to carry out data entry or word-processing tasks

for your web project is not a cost effective use of your

web budget.

Unless you are engaging your designer to carry out

copywriting or copyediting services for you, try to ensure

that the source materials are in a form as close to the

final product as possible.

Plan Properly

Get as much work done up front as possible. Changes are

easier in the planning stages than in the execution. If

you are uncomfortable with the colours or layout at the

concept sketch stage, it is safer not to assume that the

niggles will 'grow on you' as time goes by.

Trust Your Designer

Trust your web designer. Whilst it is true that the

customer is always right, but the designer should be more

experienced in the field of Internet design and

development, and should be able to offer you plenty of

constructive advice at all stages. If you cannot trust

your web designer, you may need to find another web

designer that you can.

Know What You Want

Try to establish your own requirements in advance. The

more information you can present to your web designer on

who your company is, what your company does, your target

audience, and so on, the better.

Building a basic profile of your requirements before

engaging a designer is free. Having a designer build a

profile of your requirements from scratch will be

chargeable, even if the charge is not transparent.

Concentrate on your goals and objectives.

Think Results Not Methods

Think more about what you want to achieve than how you

want to do it. A goal-oriented approach makes the

communication between client and designer easier -

especially if the terminology is unclear.

Concentrating on your goals and objectives will mean

that you are detailing your requirements based on your own

area of expertise: your business.

Again, place trust in your designer's experience -

present your designer with the goals you are trying to

achieve, or the functionality you are looking for, and let

them present you with the best solutions.

Keep it Clear

Make sure that the documentation at all stages of the

project is clear and understood by both parties.

If there is any relevant terminology specific to your

market or industry, make sure the designer knows what it

means - and vice versa: your designer should explain any

specialised concepts used.

If your designer is presenting you with something that

is unclear or unintelligible, let them know as soon as

possible - if you understand what they are talking about,

you will be able to understand what they are

delivering.

Remember Who's Who

In every web development project the client has a role

and the designer has a role. Remember which is which.

If you are paying your designer to fulfil your

requirements, let them do so. If you are going to do the

work yourself, why pay a designer?

The design process should be a collaboration - it makes

it far more likely that the end product will be something

that you are happy to be paying for. Provided you have

chosen a good designer, remember that you know your

business, and they know design. It is up to you to tell

your designer about your business, and up to your designer

to tell you about design.

The little things can keep any supplier-customer

relationship running smoothly - the seven points in this

article are just some of the ways in which the

designer-client relationship can be made that little bit

more harmonious.

About the Author
Jon Wilson is an independent writer, consultant and developer, bringing high quality internet services within reach of small businesses in a time effective, cost effective manner. For more information and articles, see his site at http://www.notbob.co.uk or email jon.wilson@threespot.co.uk