Clear communication is one of the most critical factors in fostering a positive relationship between the client and designer. Any misinterpretations or judgements can hinder a successful business bond and lead to negative connotations.
As an outside source, we obviously don’t know as much about your business as you do. Therefore, you are the only one that really knows what you need and want out of your website design.
Each industry and business is unique. They have different target markets, different business goals and objectives and employ different strategies to achieve their goals. As a result, it’s important that you come prepared with a distinct idea of what you want to achieve with your website and communicate this clearly to the team working on your project.
If you don’t know what you want in a website and what features you want available to your customers, it can become very challenging for a designer to deliver an end product that you are ultimately happy with and that operates in alignment with your established business.
I know however, that communicating exactly what you want in a manner that makes sense to both you and your designer can be a very tricky exercise, in which you can easily become flustered and agitated with. Therefore, here are some simple tips to help you clearly communicate your ideas, thoughts and comments:
- Try to keep consistent mediums of communication. Changing between different forms of communication can easily lead to missed or mixed messages.
- Read out loud written communication before you send it off. If it doesn’t make sense to you, it probably won’t make sense to the person receiving it.
- Save any kind of tangible communication in case you need to refer back to it in the future.
- Always be polite and never lose your cool. Becoming upset or agitated can allow you to easily lose track of the task being discussed and limit the progress towards your end goal.
- Be patient and always listen. Try to avoid cutting off someone through communication as this can lead to a build up of frustration and complete disarray.
- If you’re struggling to explain something in writing or in person, perhaps you can find other ways to convey your thoughts, such as drawing a picture or showing similar examples.
- Dot points can be very helpful to keep your communication concise, direct and clear.
- It is easy to become overwhelmed during the process. If this happens, step away from the situation, have some time out to relax and put things into perspective before you try and communicate.
- Always communicate in a manner you are most comfortable with, whether that be in person, in email or over the phone.
- Make sure you have a quiet space to think in. Creating a comfortable, distraction-free and relaxed environment before any communication can lead to heightened focus and a clearer message portrayal.