Wow
August 7, 2008
Jeff Goldstein pops up his head from his shell to share with us a horrific account of awful performance in the web design/web mastery market.
I, for one, am lucky enough not to have had encounters with the pathologically dissastisfied client. Most of my design work happens rarely (about three to four jobs a year) enough for me to keep my head on straight and not count on it as a primary source of income. My clients know I have a day job and I work a max of two hours a night, four weeknights a week. My clients also know that despite this, I have at most a three week turnaround time. My prospective clients know that I take only one job at a time. And most of all, my clients also know that when I give them the First Iteration, it is THE time to reject it or improve upon it.
The discussion section at Jeff’s post has gone ballistic. I would like to grok that it is rare for designer and client to get into a public shouting match, but when it does, it’s like a car in open flames pulled over on the side of the road. Can’t help but look.
I’ve been guilty of over-promising and moving slowly. Who hasn’t? But that is a scary, cringe-inducing argument. Note to self: email clients frequently, hit deadlines, smile and nod, the customer is always right.
I’m still shaking.
Ella: the worst thing a client in a project-based environment is to be kept in the dark. The worst client in a project-based environment is the micromanaging, never-satisfied type. Like I said in my post: I’ve had a lucky streak. I’ve been guilty of overpromising and I have paid for it too, but for the most part, most clients will be ok if, as you said, we emailed them frequently.
When it comes to design, though, I don’t always agree that the customer is always right. It always helps to be more than a Photoshop- and code-monkey for someone.