Why shouldn’t web designers educate their clients? Quite often, designers find themselves in a real struggle with clients who don’t understand their work or trust them enough to give them creative freedom within a project.
If you’re one of those designers trying to prove your role as an expert and keep things under control, you can start educating your clients to overcome everyday challenges.
DESIGN ISN’T EVERYTHING
When clients hire you, they care about much more than just your design skills. They want to solve specific problems—everything from traffic to conversion rates. And they need a concrete solution to eliminate these issues.
Once you prove that all of this can be achieved, they’ll stop bugging you. You’ll become their ally, and they’ll become your biggest fans.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION
First, you receive a brief with a problem description and list of requirements, and then it’s your job to develop ideas that solve these issues optimally. After that, “package” your ideas beautifully and present them to the client in non-technical language so they can align with your vision and connect it to their goals.
This approach is essential for building trust and ensuring you can unleash your creativity without being micromanaged every half hour. As the project moves forward, offer clients some basic plans and prototypes to show how the solution will work.
WEB IS NOT PRINT
Some clients simply don’t understand that the web is different from print, and there’s no guaranteed way to replicate on-screen what they sketched on paper. These clients are the hardest to deal with.
It’s common when working with beginners who know nothing about design—but even long-term clients might push a particular ad idea. Another issue is that clients assume you’ve spent most of your life online and are surprised when you haven’t seen what they imagined for their next campaign.
The best way to deal with such situations is to accept that some people simply lack web experience, be patient enough to educate them, and help break down the false illusions they bring to the table.
Another type of client is the one who comes up with their own websites and interactive brochures. You’ll need to inform them that while it might be possible, it won’t allow them to fully leverage their online presence. And if they insist—so be it. Sometimes, learning from mistakes is the best teacher.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “JUST ONE LITTLE THING”
Every experienced designer knows this. Clients tend to come up with “ideas” at the last minute that completely derail the workflow just as deadlines approach. As you can imagine, these tiny things can have a huge negative impact and threaten your ability to deliver on time.
If you’re looking for a solution to this, it lies in the change clause—which should be a mandatory part of every contract—clearly stating that any last-minute changes will require additional payment. Of course, don’t go so far as to charge for five-minute tweaks, but think carefully about what needs to be covered.
MOST CLIENTS DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE CONTRACT
There’s a reason contracts exist—to get both parties to agree to a set of rules. But that doesn’t stop some clients from ignoring them.
Many clients might skip meetings, hire additional designers, or change things at the last minute. In these cases, having a legal agreement that outlines the rules of engagement can save you a lot of trouble.
If you’re unsure what to include in a contract, here are a few ideas that might help:
DON’T SET UNREALISTIC DEADLINES
It’s rare to find a client who won’t complain about delays. On the contrary, clients will ask you to deliver as fast as possible, ignoring the fact that even the simplest websites take time to build.
Don’t force yourself to rush or agree to unrealistic deadlines. Instead, try to explain to your client how much time is truly needed to design, build, and polish a site until it looks great.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Educating clients means allowing them to ask reasonable questions and make logical demands—while also helping them understand the value of your knowledge, skills, and effort. Everyone’s happy when communication is smooth and nothing wastes your time and energy.
Still, let some mistakes teach you how to act in the future and be prepared for difficulties, even if you’ve already gotten pretty good at client education.