What’s wrong with starting to design right away?

One of the biggest mistake when approaching a design project (in my case, a web design project) is jumping right on to design with only a brief idea of what the client want, your assumption on what the client might want or what you think what would be the best for the client.

Don’t worry, I’ve been there and I believe most (if not all) professional had once done this as they wanted their creativity take control of the projects, thinking that they are the expert of both the design aspect and the client’s business as well. This is the wrong approach and will prove costly in the long run and will end up a broken relationship between you and the client, you resenting the project that you once excited about

What should you do instead?

The right way to approach this would simply be talking with the client and truly listen to their thinking and what they want to solve by hiring your service. Instead of guessing and assuming what the client might want, looking high and low for reference and mood-boarding only to learn that what the client want and need are completely different!

Actually listen and engage your client in a conversation, start with truly understanding their problems and frustration and what they actually want to solve, from there, the solution and the design might come into your head very naturally and clearly. By honoring the communication, when you present your idea to the client, there would be very little pushback and you already have the client’s reasons behind your design decisions. The project would go way smoothly and less revision. Time, money, resources are saved, heartaches are avoided.

Don’t start with design, start with listening to what your client needs.

Don’t start with design, start with knowing if you and your client is the best fit for each other.

Don’t start with design, start with clear communication.