Photo by fuyoh!.

The following is a short story from my web design freelancing experience that took place in the earlier days of the Internet around the year 2001.

A customer that we’ll call Jack said he wanted a web site with tabs along the top of the screen like Amazon. The problem is that his site did not lend itself well to this model because it was very small and was meant to drive people to call him for his services. It wasn’t that I couldn’t create a site that resembled Amazon, it was more that his true needs were for an easily navigable web site.

He associated Amazon with easy navigation, good style and a professional look. So what he was really looking for deep down was not a specific type of navigation bar, but these three simple things: a website that was professional, easy to navigate and stylish. After I understood his true needs and explained to him that I could arrange for those needs to be met without an Amazon-copycat design, he was delighted. The client ended up doubling my quoted rate because he was so happy with the results!

So what should you do to eliminate the problem of the customer who says one thing but means another?

1. Strip client requests down to their needs, not down to what they think they want. Have you ever had a client say they wanted X, but then after you finished creating X, decided they want Y? That’s a clear signal that what they really want is neither X nor Y, but something deeper from which both X and Y stem from. Figure out what underlying theme or ideas are motivating their changes in opinion or their vagueness. Sometimes simply getting away from a computer or concrete examples and sitting down with a pen and paper to map out their business goals helps.

Working your way back to the issue at hand starting from their lowest level requirements can help you to come up with a solution neither of you had previously thought of. Similarly, working from business goals helps keep doors open and can eliminate any preconceived notions the client might have about the type of final result they are looking for. This gives you more room to be creative and can help make the job more enjoyable for you.

We all know the best clients are those that just give you some guidelines and let you get on with it, but other clients might need a bit of coaching to give you their real requirements and then to let you do your thing.

2. Provide a prototype to give the customer a feel for the final product. There are times when concepts and ideas just don’t translate well and you need to see something tangible. There is one caveat with the prototype method, which is that clients might think the whole product is done and they can just pay you for a few more hours’ work and get their final product. You need to emphasize to your customer that the prototype you are showing them is just that, a mock up and a non-functional representation of what you can do if they approve it.

After you have explained the prototype, you should give them time to play with it or otherwise observe it. If they like what they see, then you struck gold and you can go ahead and continue with the work. Otherwise, you can help guide your client to understanding what it is they want you to change and why. Knowing why they want to make changes is important to your being able to help them reach their business goals.

You may need to iterate and produce more than one prototype version, but at least this way your client is seeing your progress and if the final product is not what they had hoped for, you can quote their requests for changes and let them know that they had the chance to make changes during the creation process but they chose not to.

3. Use your past experience and judgment to convince clients that you are delivering what they want, even if it doesn’t look like what they expected. An example from the book ‘Blink’ by Malcolm Gladwell shows us that people react poorly to new products or designs that they are not familiar with.

In the case of a new chair that Herman Miller designed called the Aeron, the focus groups reacted so badly to the new look that it consistently got bad reviews. Herman Miller had already spent so much time and effort designing the chair, so they went ahead and released it despite the bad reviews. The chair went on to win awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America and it really caught on in New York and in the Silicon Valley. Today the chair is regarded entirely differently and new focus groups even give it good reviews. Sometimes you need to be able to follow your gut instincts and convince a client that your work may be a little bit experimental or unheard of, but it will make big waves and more importantly it will serve their needs.

Of course, I want to caution you to listen to your customers because sometimes you could be off the mark and have produced a dud, but if you have been in the freelance business for awhile you develop a sense for these things. Now all you have to do is convince your client that your sixth sense is right.

Never again should you have to worry about second guessing what your customers really want, when they say they want something else. You can use these three techniques to analyze what motivates your client deep down, create prototypes to give them a chance to make changes, and finally, you might need to convince them to go with your experienced judgment!

Nathalie Lussier is a recent Software Engineering graduate who has had a passion for freelancing since her early days on the Internet. She shows people how to regain their innate power and flourish by expanding their possibilities at http://www.billionairewoman.com.

Nathalie Lussier

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