Noah Stokes’s recent post, The State of the Web Design Profession, nails down a number of big issues with the web that I’ve been feeling recently. What’s most interesting about Noah’s post is just how much of the burden he puts on our neglect of basic service — we don’t respect our clients.
This is something I’ve always found a little fascinating with our industry; the barely contained contempt for the people whose projects we’re supposed to passionately care about (and whose money keeps us gainfully employed). It’s hard not to smell the air of smug satisfaction amongst web designers — we get the Internet and everyone else is just dense. This needs to change.
Noah’s opening salvo hits the nail on the head:
First, stop thinking your client is stupid. Your client is not stupid… We are in the services industry. Get used to it. Your client is your lifeline. Show them the respect they deserve, even if they don’t deserve it.
Words to live by. If you don’t play well with others, you might want to go build that “bug tracker two point oh dot fart” web-app (I kid, because I’ve tried). Seriously — if you can’t find the headspace to realize that designing for clients is all about empathy, patience, and understanding, you need to find a different line of work.
Why so serious?
Why do I care so much about this? Because I’ve committed myself to working in this field for the foreseeable future — web design is what I do, and where my passion lies. I love the chance to work with a new medium, and solve design and communication problems for real people.
But this industry is a shared house, a co-op if you will, and one that we all need to maintain. It reflects poorly on us all when some people leave their dirty laundry around this house, and forget to mow the lawn. It’s a fragile garden, and it needs constant tending. All of our jobs will be easier if we focus on service, and not whatever new HTML5 spec is trending on Twitter. Technology isn’t the problem, it’s our collective poor attitude and lack of focus.
The gist — don’t become a web designer just because you can. Do it because you love it, want to grow professionally, and enjoy working and helping others. If we all focused on being ‘best friends forever’ — designers & clients together — we’ll be better for it.
4 Comments
Timmy Christensen
Sep 22nd
I read that same post and felt similarly.
But it does start to make me feel a bit like a code monkey or pixel pusher if my ideas get vetoed on the basis of “the client knows best.”
Mike
Sep 22nd
I don’t think the disrespect comes from a lack of respect towards our clients. I think its from the perception that anyone can do web design pushed by a number of different places. Every small college is offering a “web design” program these days. “Do you want to learn medical billing, criminal justice, or web design?!” Nothing against those other professions, but they always slap a web design program in there. The commercials are always horrible and make it sound like you will be a design superstar designing for Nike, Apple, etc.
I saw an article today on msn.com…”18 ways to make $100 more a month”. Guess what number 18 was? Web Design! Woo Hoooo it’s so easy anyone can do it for a little extra cash!
Erik Vorhes
Sep 22nd
There’s a vast difference between kowtowing to and respecting your client.
I find it really easy to fall into the trap of thinking my clients are “stupid” if they don’t understand usability or accessibility concerns or want a five-minute Flash intro. But they’re not stupid; our clients usually have completely different talents and areas of expertise than we do.
And that’s where respect comes in. Having actual conversations, where you and the client listen to each other’s points of view (and where you patiently educate the client and at the same time are willing to learn), is paramount. This kind of collaborative work can make a good project (or even a potentially bad one) great..
Matt Robin
Sep 22nd
Great sentiment all-round Matt, I think this is very important for web design work. I’ll note that the keyword here is ‘collaboration’ …and that’s something which has to work both ways if it’s going to succeed.