I came across an interesting video the other day by Paul Boag, a well-recognized face in the world of web design and podcasting, presenting various tips and techniques on how we can make clients understand our work and approve of our decisions.
A few posts back I posted the question “Do your clients need to be educated?“, and received some great responses and feedback from designers across the web. And since Paul Boag’s keynote “Educating Clients to Say Yes” related back to the question, I thought I would share the link. The lecture lasts about a 35 minutes, but worth every minute of it.
If your interested in finding upcoming design-related events in your area, check out AIGA’s calender and search by State. Attending live lectures can be great resource of learning, networking and a vital part to becoming a better designer.
God, the American crowd weren’t going for the English jokes at all, were they?
LOL! A lot of Americans don’t find dry humor very funny unfortunately :P
great find, thanks for sharing this was the most enlightening 30 minutes of my week.
Some good stuff. I am very guilty of using “Let me know what you think” :)
Hey Brian,
In case you missed it, there is a full summary of the video on JCD:
http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/12/18/how-to-get-clients-to-say-yes-to-your-designs/
Jacob,
I did get the chance to read yours…great summary. Actually if I remember correctly I think I commented on it as well ;) Definitely an inspiring and informative video. Thanks for the comment
[...] try offering them advice and help them to understand “why”. Be the designer and the teacher. One of the first reasons I started this site was to not only help [...]
This is a great video and I love the light hearted and funny approach. Paul is absolutely right. Building a framework for the client to gain commitment momentum with your design is all about introducing an assuring methodology that moves the client away from personal opinion and towards strategic alignment with the business objectives. Capturing all collaboration on design artifacts is essential to demonstrating to the client that you are really listening to his or her problems. This takes away all that blame game stuff later on. That is why I use the reviewing and change management modules of Code-Roller in all my design related client interaction. Does anybody here know where his slide deck is located?