There is a mindset in this profession that clients are the enemy. They’re clueless and they don’t appreciate the beautiful works of art we create for them. They bastardize our designs with ill-conceived changes that undermine or contradict everything we know about the project and general design principles. They don’t appreciate our expertise, instead relegating us to the role of pixel pushers.

Sure, it’s fun to commiserate with each other, sharing stories about the ridiculous requests clients have given us, but what benefit does it really give us to think this way? When it comes to web design, clients may not “get it” but why would we expect them to? They aren’t web designers and they didn’t go to design school. They’ve chosen to specialize in other areas that allow them to succeed in their current jobs and they’ve come to us for help in an area we know well.

Frankly, I’m tired of all the client bashing and I have this bit of advice to impart to my profession:

If you want to succeed and be happy in this industry, you must stop thinking of clients as the enemy and start building your capacities for empathy, active listening and articulate discussion. You must stop whining about how your client keeps making stupid changes to your design, and start thinking about what lead you to be in this position in the first place. What assumptions did you make about the client’s understanding of the web and the web design process? What steps could have been added to the process to avoid this? Did you communicate your process clearly from the start? Did you use documentation and sign-off to ensure the client was listening?

Bottom line, when a project seems to be going off track it always helps to ask lots of questions. Assume nothing. Talk it out until you are sure that you and the client are on the same page. Most important, stop whining and do some introspection to discover how you can be a better consultant. Learn from your experiences and use what you can to make sure the next project goes better!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of the title Web Designer. Lately, I’ve been shying away from using it for myself. It seems to have become a general term that is used to denote anyone who works on websites, and I worry that it misrepresents what web professionals really do. The word design is most commonly used to refer to the visual appearance of things, i.e. layout, spacing, colors, textures. Web professionals know that there is so much more to consider when building a website: lean code, no-brainer usability, quality content … the list goes on. When the word design doesn’t accurately describe the process, it’s no wonder some people can’t see the forest for the trees, nearly killing themselves over trivial visual details and delaying important functional improvements to get the design just right.

So what to do? Perhaps a new title … Web Strategist? Web Consultant? I’m not sure I’d use these either, because they focus more on the idea of planning and exclude the idea of execution. As an artist, HTML/CSSer, and general problem solver, I want to do both! I’d also be missing out on the immediate comprehension that the title Web Designer has. After all, it’s always a good idea to use terms that are immediately understood in conversation.

Time to go to the dictionary! Turns out, one definition of design is exactly the sort of superficial, fonts- and background-picking most people think of when they think about web design:

an arrangement of lines or shapes created to form a pattern or decoration

However, there is a second definition of design that I’d be quite happy to include in my title:

purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact, or material object

Ah … that’s better. I can be that kind of Web Designer.

Actually, I’d narrow it down even further to the idea that design = intention. What separates a great website (one that is immediately enjoyed by it’s visitors) and a bad website (one that confuses or is immediately perceived as ugly) is the presence of intention. On a great website, some thought, however brief, has been put into every detail; a million micro decisions that add up to one cohesive, effective whole. On a bad website, a lack of intention is revealed by a barrage of disparate information, colors and functionality.

So, perhaps I’ll use the title Web Designer¹ after all. But with a footnote.

¹ A creative professional who combines his/her understanding of spoken and visual communication with a thorough understanding of the goals and challenges to solve a problem.