In a nutshell, information architecture (IA) is a science of structuring content of the websites, web and mobile applications, and social media software. IA study aims at organizing content so that users would easily adjust to the functionality of the product and could find everything they need without big effort. Nowadays, when the user-centered approach in design is a top trend, many designers learn the principles of information architecture science which are believed to be a foundation of the powerful design. There are many experts working on IA development now, so loads of various techniques appear. Our article presents four efficient IA methodologies commonly used in the design.

Content inventory

Before you start constructing a layout of the product, you need to understand what elements your project will consist of. One of the first stages of building information architecture is called content inventory. The technique considers creating a list of the components for the future design project. The inventory list usually includes various elements such as title, author/provider, meta elements (keywords, description, tags), copy, images, audio, video, and document files.

A content inventory list assists designers at the different stages of the workflow. First of all, the list helps identify the essential content components so that designers could plan the product structure. Knowing all the constituents, designers can place them properly. Furthermore, it’s an easy way to discuss the structural peculiarities of the project with your clients. It is much faster and easier to edit the list rather than modify the design project when it’s been started. Finally, the list of components can help designers deeply comprehend the content that results in creating appropriate connections between elements so that the design of the product would look integral.

Wireframing

Information architecture is something like a blueprint of the layout that needs to be generated by a visual scheme. The majority of designers constantly use the well-known technique called wireframing helping to create a simplified and schematic visual representation of a layout for digital products. Wireframes are similar to architectural blueprints: they are usually black and white illustrations, sometimes with bright marks or spots to outline specific areas or points, that give a clear vision of the project structure and connections between different parts.

Wireframing is a fast and cheap technique to plan the information architecture of the page or screen. Designers use wireframes to outline visual and typographic hierarchy of user interfaces, set the interactive zones and elements, plan transitions and interactions, organize the general layout markedly for the target audience. Since a wireframe is focused on the structure, not the visual and emotional perception of the details, designers try to keep it simple. They mostly limit it to monochromatic color schemes, with boxes and lines representing copy, pictures, and all the interactive elements on the page.

Wireframing gives numerous advantageous opportunities not only for designers but for the whole development team and clients too. First of all, a wireframe is the first visual representation of a designer’s abstract idea. This step ensures that the developers and the clients get a full understanding of the project’s design. Furthermore, developers can clearly see the placement of the elements on the page. Some software for creating wireframes allows seeing all the sizes and spacing by clicking a single button that saves time for both design and development teams.

Organization structures and schemes

In our article “Basics of Information Architecture for Designers” we’ve defined four essential components of IA: organization systems, labeling systems, navigation systems, and search systems. The organization systems are the groups or the categories in which the information is divided. It helps users to predict where they can find certain information easily. To categorize the design components effectively, designers apply the technique of division into specific structures and schemes.

There are three main types of content structures: Hierarchical, Sequential, and Matrix.

Hierarchical. In one of our previous articles, we’ve mentioned the well-known technique of content organization called visual hierarchy. It is initially based on Gestalt psychological theory and its main goal is to present content on the carrier, be it a book page or poster, web page or mobile screen, in such a way that users can understand the level of importance for each element. It activates the ability of the brain to distinguish objects on the basis of their physical differences, such as size, color, contrast, alignment, etc.

Big City Guide

Sequential. This structure creates some kind of a path for the users. They go step-by-step through content to accomplish the task they needed. This type is often used for retail websites or apps where people have to go from one task to another to make the purchase.

Jewellery E-Commerce App

Matrix. This type is a bit more complicated for the users since they choose the way of navigation on their own. Users are given choices of content organization. For example, they can navigate through content which is ordered according to date, or some may prefer navigation along the topic.

HealthCare App

Content can be divided according to the organization schemes which are meant to classify the design components into certain groups. Here are some of the popular schemes:

Alphabetical. Content is organized in alphabetical order. This scheme works best when users know exactly what they’re looking for and know how to describe or name the object of the search, so it can serve as a navigation tool for the users.

Audience. The type of content organization for separate groups of users. As an example, there are many educational resources that divide the information according to the skill level of the learners.

Chronological. This type organizes content by date and time. It’s often used on news websites, event apps, and blogs.

Topic. Content is organized according to the specific subject. For instance, online bookshops divide the products according to genres.

Bookshop Website

Content organization models

Designers have been working on the development of the information architecture field for a long time and so far they have established some efficient models of the content structure. Knowing them, designers can choose appropriate information structure for a product. Let’s take a look at the most common models.

Single page model

When the digital product requires a minimum of the content, the single-page model is a perfect choice. Websites for a single product and with focused purpose often apply this type of data structure. As an example, we can consider design for the website promoting the brand new application. Its purpose is to make users upload the app, so generally, it provides a limited amount of copy with the focus on the button “Available on App Store”.

Upper App

Flat model

This model works best for small websites or landing pages. In the flat structure, all the pages are equal and they are put at the same level of navigation, so they are interchangeably accessible for the users. This type of information structure is good for the websites which have a limited amount of the content and it’s not going to grow anytime soon. It may be a good idea to apply the flat model to the design of a startup company.

CalloSum Landing Page

Index model

The index structure is one of the most commonly used. All the pages are equally similar to the flat model but the navigation system differs. Index model allows users to access pages via the page list which is available on every page of the product. This way, the index model may contain more content and remain usable and simple for users since they can skip useless pages.

Vinny’s Bakery Website

Strict hierarchy model

The model received its name, not by chance. It’s called “strict” because it gives users only one way to access the subpages: from the main page. This structure is a good choice for digital products that have a specific purpose. For example, e-commerce websites use the structure so that the users wouldn’t skip the important information about their new offers. Also, educational platforms may apply the model in order to make the educational process gradual.

Co-existing hierarchy model

This kind of information structure is probably the most difficult to apply. It combines the ideas of a few models. Similar to index model, it provides users with various ways to access the content still it aims at guiding people through a certain path so that they would take expected actions. That’s why to create such a structure, designers need to have a bit of experience in this area. However, it may be worth trying.

The Big Landscape

Daisy model

This type of content structure is common for educational websites and apps as well as the others which require users to complete certain tasks. The daisy structure is built that way so users return to a homepage (sometimes other specific points) after they accomplish the tasks. For instance, many to-do apps automatically return users to the main screen when they point the task as complete.

Upper App

Information architecture is vital for the powerful design but it needs to be done right. The various IA techniques we’ve discussed above can be combined and applied depending on the product and the clients’ requirements. Moreover, they are constantly improved since the design field never stays still, so many new methodologies may appear soon. Our next article will continue the topic of IA so stay tuned!

Recommended reading

A Practical Guide to Information Architecture by Donna Spencer

The ultimate guide to information architecture

How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody

Information Architecture Basics

Basics of Information Architecture for Designers

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Information Architecture: Techniques for Designers появились сначала на Design4Users.

When you work in a creative industry, time management seems to be something far and impossible to do. Loads of work, lack of inspiration never allow you to feel free in controlling your time. Nevertheless, our bosses and clients expect us to be highly productive, so we cannot afford delays and mistakes and have to use our time in the most effective way. Today our article presents some practical tips on time management for professionals in creative spheres.

Plan your day

Many of us coming at work may spend the whole morning surfing the social networks up till the lunchtime and then wonder where the morning hours have gone. The problem is that we rarely plan the day ahead so we don’t know which task, among hundreds needed to be done, to start with. The daily plan helps to organize the tasks and gives the review on how your day will come to pass. With the plan on hands, all you need to do for having a productive day is stick to the plan as close as you can.

It is useful to form your daily strategy in the evening before you sleep or in the morning before the workday begins. There are many ways to creating an effective daily plan. For example, you can write a to-do list in your datebook or take some notes on your smartphone. Moreover, today many apps make this process even easier.

Upper App

Prioritize the tasks

Creating your personal to-do list may become a problem when you have loads of tasks to accomplish. Of course, all the assignments given to us by our clients or bosses are urgent and all of them are usually marked as “to do as soon as possible” but we’re humans and it’s impossible for us to do lots of tasks at once. That’s why you need to think out the details and prioritize the important assignments. To set the priorities effectively, it can be good to answer to yourself objectively which project needs to be finished today and which can wait a bit more.

However, if you have a creative job, it’s not always possible to stick to your plan and accomplish the tasks in the right order. The artistic job heavily depends on inspiration and its absence can stop the whole process. In this case, creative people are recommended to have a fallback meaning the next project in the priorities. Switching to another kind of work can have a positive effect on your mind and creativity.

Eliminate distractions

If you’re a designer, a writer, or an illustrator, your job includes using the Internet, full-time or partly. Of course, the net is the major source of useful information, but on the other hand, it is also the spring of distractions such as social networks and entertaining websites. Interfering the creative process, you can’t concentrate completely on the task meaning you are not able to do the job properly. Certainly, it is hard to eliminate all the web distractions since we need to check our emails or contact the clients, still, we don’t need to be online for 24 hours. In most cases, you can choose a certain time for this part of daily routine like 10 a.m and 6 p.m. and that is enough to keep up with the things going on and stay in touch with the customers.

Track the time

It is said that happiness takes no account of time. Nevertheless, any project has its deadline and we have to fit it, so the count of time does matter here. To be more productive, it’s advisable to establish your own mini-deadlines for the tasks. For example, the task number one should be ready at 11.20 a.m, the next should be done at 13.00 p.m. Try to estimate the time needed for the specific assignment more objectively, do not overestimate yourself. Having a detailed schedule, you organize your time in the most efficient way and prevent your work from dragging on. Also, this helps your mind stay focused on what should be done right here and now.

Stop procrastinating

The majority of us constantly postpone our duties for a particular reason. However, sometimes it may turn into chronic procrastinating when we do anything but work. This can’t bring any good to either you or your clients, so something has to be done about it. Here are several pieces of advice on how to reduce the procrastination in the workflow.

Don’t push yourself. Negative emotions never help. While you’re biting yourself for the moments of procrastination, you are not able to start work. So, the first step to take is to calm down and understand that everyone is keen to procrastinate. There’s nothing wrong with you.

Find out the reason. Every time we postpone tasks there is a reason standing behind it. So, when you feel like procrastinating you need to ask yourself why you are doing it. Is the task too boring, or complicated, or unclear for you? Finding a reason, you’ll be able to find the solution.

Split big projects into small steps. Consistently, when we have a big project ahead, it may seem a heavy burden that cannot be accomplished anytime soon. That’s why, it is always a good idea to split the project into small, clear, and simple tasks. You can also talk this through with the client and set the mini-deadlines which will definitely improve your workflow.

Stay focused. Multi-tasking has become a part of the routine for many of us a long time ago, but only a few people learned how to deal with it effectively. We often switch from one task to another, and as a result, nothing is done properly. Try to stay focused on one task at the time, so you could perform it as well as you can. Shifting to the other activity is effective only in case you are totally stuck and have no idea where to move next.

Be good, not perfect

Someone may say that perfectionism never hurts but it’s not completely true. When you constantly work under deadlines, the desire to make everything perfect may play a joke with you. Trying to avoid the smallest mistakes at a certain stage of your work, you lose the time reserved for the next steps. And when the deadline comes, you realize that you have 80% of a perfect design, while the client expected the fully accomplished work. To avoid such a situation, try not to get obsessed with the smallest details that are not vital for the task. Remember that you can always polish everything later if you need.

Don’t forget to enjoy your life

Creative job demands creative energy, but the endless projects, meetings, brainstorming, and other work routines can make us tired no matter how much we love our job. It’s necessary to include time for relaxing into your schedule. An evening with your friends or in the gym can charge you with positive energy and inspire you to do something new and wonderful. So, don’t forget to find the opportunity of having a good time.

Using at least some of these tips, you can improve not only your workflow but everyday lifestyle too. Value your time and the others will do the same.

Recommended reading

Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect

19 Productivity and Time Management Apps for 2016

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

First Things First by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill

30 Time Management Tips For Work-Life Balance

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Useful Tips on Time Management for Design Professionals появились сначала на Design4Users.

Designers must:

• Learn constantly

There is no point on the way where being a designer you can stop learning. Sure, if you work on several projects at the same time, it’s hard to find the time for reading professional books or blogs. However, finding this time is vital for your success, otherwise you risk losing the essence and fundamentals.

• Follow the trends

There are loads of ways how to keep yourself up to date about the latest and freshest trends. Following blogs and social accounts of well-known and prospective design studios, exploring established design platforms like Dribbble and Behance, watching speeches by famous designers and presentations of new products in the field, communicating with other designers at various events – all of these steps can be extremely helpful in keeping your professional horizons as broad as possible.

• Try new tools

It doesn’t mean that all the professional tools, soft and applications you are going to try will be useful and helpful. Moreover, it doesn’t mean that they are going to be better than the earlier ones. However, in most cases they will provide something new enabling you to obtain new solutions, to save your time, to create new features. The more tools you try, the higher is the chance to find those which are perfect for you and your project needs.

• Communicate with colleagues

Communication with colleagues can be both real and virtual. In both cases, it matters for your professional recognition. Don’t forget that design, as well as business, is always done by people. Socializing with colleagues can end up being involved in interesting projects, recommended to potential customers, or invited to speak in front of other designers. The basic aim of communication is the exchange of information and this information can be strategic for your professional growth.

• Present and share

As we have already mentioned in our tips for beginning designers, sharing and presentation is the way to get not only recognition but also feedback which opens a new vision of your own work. It is a well-known fact that being objective and fair about your own project is quite hard, so presentation and discussion of your work with others can be very helpful. Moreover, sharing your designs on design platforms like Dribbble and Behance, your thoughts in blogs and your professional life and routine on social accounts attract your potential customers and bring home the bacon.

• Use technologies they design for

Designer should know what is the path of a user when he uses this or that technology. When you design the application not knowing how to use a smartphone and how it differs from using a tablet, the chances to create a viable product are really low. Updating the soft and operation system of your devices plays the same important role. Creating something for users, you should be a user yourself.

• Use social networks

This point combines several aims mentioned above. Using social networks not just for private, but in professional aspects gives you three important benefits: you understand how it works from user’s view and can apply this knowledge in your job; you can get a lot of information on how other designers work and communicate with them in the fast and unobtrusive way, and you can present yourself and your professional abilities on the established and promoted platform with a great number of users.

• Keep themselves fit and healthy

This actually doesn’t look like a professional tip. However, your health and fitness are the basis of your success. Putting it aside, to ‘better times’, you risk losing your ability to work and that is the thing to be remembered, always. Give your eyes the break, walk around, stretch your back muscles, eat clean and find your own enjoyable way to exercise, let it be swimming, running, or anything else. It may sound “out-of-business”, but your business totally depends on it.

• Listen to their customers

If you want to make design a business giving you money, you should study how to satisfy customers’ needs and sell your service. So, always listen to your customer, and ask loads of questions if needed. Get into details, feel their pain, understand their targets – and they will later give you not only money but also promotion, which is even more important.

• Test as much as possible

Experts in usability say that it’s impossible to be fully objective about the project you work on, especially if it’s long term. Moreover, you are not a magician turning into anyone who will use your product to understand the best way of doing anything. Therefore, creating the idea is hot enough. You should test it to grab the real practical data and improve your product.

• Present themselves as personalities

Presenting your professional achievements in the global design community is significant on the way to recognition. But if you want to make the process even more efficient, give your work the personality. Let people know, who you are, show them how you work, share your opinions, instagram some routine. Support your skills with your personality to make them both more powerful.

• Organize their day

If you want to make design your business rather than your hobby, organization and time management are vital. Otherwise, you will not be able to provide the customer with an efficient workflow and get lost in tasks. Set the regime, split the tasks into smaller steps with their own due dates, and don’t neglect the to-do lists. It can make you surprised with the amount of job you are able to do when your day is properly organized.

Designers mustn’t

• Look down at their customers

Sure, in most cases you know more or the hell much more than your customer. However, it doesn’t make you enlightened and doesn’t give you the right to be rude and arrogant. Your task is to understand and help rather than to humiliate and self-express.

• Stop learning

The day you think that you are the super expert and there is nothing new for you anymore is halfway to the death of your designer career. Self-education should never stop, especially in such dynamic fields as web and app design.

• Ignore users’ needs

Designer should always remember that in most cases neither they nor their customers are the deciding voice. The users of the final product are. Therefore, ignoring their needs is going to give a product that may be awesome and highly artistic but absolutely non-viable.

• Say direct “no” to the customer

Certainly, that doesn’t mean that the customer is always right. If all the customers knew how to create their designs, they would do it themselves and designers would get extinct. But in our world and our days, your customers are people who are asking for your help, and what is really important they do it not for free. So, when you do not agree with the customer’s solution or you see the better ways of solving the problem, get into the issue, ask about all the details of this wish and then offer your vision in a solid but polite way, reasoning every step of your solution to the problem.

• Avoid communication

Communication is used here globally. Obviously, when you are deep into a particular project and, let’s say, work out the complex screens, you won’t be happy to get distracted just to feel that feeling of communication. Communication here means being ready to brainstorm and delegate the parts of the tasks in a wise and open way when it’s needed for the team or project’s sake. Also, it happens that designers avoid communication with customers preferring just to get the task and accomplish it how they see it right. This way can lead the designer of spending a long time accomplishing the project which is absolutely different from what the customer wants and then cause long and hard hours of frustration while redesigning.

• Start the project without research

Starting the project without preliminary research can also cost you wasted time and effort. Without investigation and exploration, you will not be aware of the situation on the market, the needs, and wishes of your target audience, strong and weak sides of the competition, so the risk to create something not original or not appropriate is much higher.

• Forget about coding and development

One more thing to bear in mind is that the product designer creates is going to be coded in the next stage. Sure, most designers want to see their products alive, working, and presenting their bright skills, and if you are one of them give out the result which will be not only visual but also supported with the materials, helping developers to breathe the life into it.

• Ignore competition

The ever-time truth of martial art is that to be prepared you should know your enemy by sight. Certainly, design is not the war field, but this law still works. And the most important benefit of exploring the competition is not to reveal or define the enemies, but to understand what is already going on in the market and analyze how to make your product stand out from the crowd of the like.

• Forget about deadlines

If design is your hobby or you do it just for pure art, you can ignore any kind of deadlines and time restrictions. But if you want to make design your business, you should be ready to stick to deadlines and study how to manage your time. Otherwise, you risk losing the projects and perspectives just because of breaking deadlines.

• Wait for the muse

Creative people often say that they cannot work without the necessary inspiration. They are just waiting for the muse which will help them to find the best solution. Like it or hate it, but muse which doesn’t arrive on time is not a reasonable explanation for broken deadlines or inappropriate results. Therefore, if you want to have a serious name and get respected by your clients, if you want to have a constant flow of projects and earn more and more, find the ways to call your muse when you need it, not waiting when it wants to come. By the way, the process of research and sketching for the project is one of the great ways. Appetite comes with eating, the muse comes with working.

Useful Articles

Creative Jobs: What Graphic Designers Do?

Seven Simple Tips for a Beginner in Web and App Design

Design Workstyle: Freelance vs Teamwork

Design Career: How to Get a Dream Design Job

Time Management for Creative People

How User Experience Designers Bring Value to the World

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Basic Grammar for Designers: Must and Mustn’t in Design. появились сначала на Design4Users.

In one of the earlier articles with tips for beginners in the app and web design, our first piece of advice based on practical experience was rather simple. The first and really crucial thing may sound quite primitive: you should make sure that you really want to make it your job. There are lots of people who, being great artists, deeply creative, and inspired, get broken by the necessity to work systematically with strict deadlines and loads of requirements and wishes (sometimes illogical or not-too-professional) from the customers. Clear up the nature of your job: the designer is not a pure artist free of obligations and fully devoted to creativity. Nope. In different stages of your project, you’re also going to be a researcher, an analyst, a time manager, and the like. Bear in mind all those things from the very start of the way.

For those who have made this vital decision, today we would like to recommend a useful and helpful book “Design Is a Job” by witty expert Mike Monteiro, the co-founder of Mule Design. The book reveals all the stages of a design job, including communication with clients, organization of the process, drawing contracts, working in teams of colleagues, and so on and so forth. The author doesn’t try to make the profession look like magic: he is deeply and sometimes sharply honest about not only the benefits but also pitfalls. In the foreword to the book, Erik Spiekermann says: “Contrary to popular belief, designers are not artists. We employ artistic methods to visualize thinking and process, but, unlike artists, we work to solve a client’s problem, not present our own view of the world.” The ideas shared by Mike Monteiro are deeply practical in supporting this thesis. It is not about the design process inside only, it is more about the outer part of the design world, full of clients, requirements, goals, metrics, iterations, presentations, and discussions.

Here we would like to share a new set of design quotes that we grabbed from this book for Tubik Studio Quotes Collection. This time it will be fully loaded with honest and informative thoughts by Mike Monteiro. Join in!

A designer requires honest feedback and real criticism, and that’s not going to happen in a realm where colleagues or clients are worried about crushing the spirit of a magical being. The sparkly fog of affirmation gets in the way.

Clients will always ask you to make their logo bigger, prescribe solutions, and ask you to do things that will make you smack your forehead. You can roll your eyes at how much they don’t understand about design or you can roll up your sleeves and begin practising your craft by helping them clarify what they need.

If you can stand in front of a client completely confident and explain why you are worth the amount you quoted, you should charge it.

The general rule is to involve as many people as possible in early discussions, and make that number as small as possible once you go into review cycles.

Anyone who hires you because they thought you could do the job and then doesn’t let you do it has lost respect for either you or the design process.

Whether you are helping to launch a new business from scratch, or making incremental changes to an existing product, or something in between, any design task you undertake must serve a goal. It’s your job to find out what those goals are.

Successful design balances convention—familiar forms, terms, and interactions—and novelty—new forms to engage and delight the users, in the hope they will stick around a bit longer and maybe buy their pants here instead of somewhere else. As long as you remember that those new forms must serve the goals of the business. Otherwise, they’re just novelty.

A good client will trust your process as long as they have transparency into it, can see results, and you’re willing to bend a little here and there. Without breaking.

A designer who does not present his or her own work is not a designer. Presenting the work, explaining the rationale, answering questions, and eliciting feedback are part of the design toolkit. If you sit at your desk while someone else presents work to the client, you don’t get to complain about the feedback. The failure was yours.

Clients are the lifeblood of a healthy business. They are the oxygen in your bloodstream that keeps everything going. No matter how good you are at what you do, without someone willing to pay you for that service you will have to close your doors.

If you’re trying to decide between two design firms that seem equally talented, the one that came with a referral has a solid advantage. And that vetting goes both ways—a client who is well-socialized and has a good reputation in a large network is more likely to be a great client. In most cases, you’re going to be as sceptical of a client who hires a designer from an ad as they are of the designer who answered that ad.

…you should aim to be pleasant to work with, as everyone would rather work with someone pleasant than with an asshole. But no one wants to work with someone who’s faking it. Doing good work often requires a few hard conversations.

The biggest myth ever perpetuated in the design field is that good design sells itself. (The second is that Copperplate is a legitimate typeface.) Design can’t speak for itself any more than a tamale can take off its own husk. You’re presenting a solution to a business problem, and you’re presenting it as an advocate for the end users. The client needs to know that you’ve studied the problem, understood its complexities, and that you’re working from that understanding.

Ultimately, your job is to make the client feel confident in the design. Confidence is as much of a deliverable as anything you’re handing over in the project.

There’s a difference between being enjoyable to work with and being “nice.” Being nice means worrying about keeping up the appearance of harmony at the expense of being straightforward and fully engaged. Sometimes you need to tell a client they’re making the wrong call.

Of course, being the most pleasant person in the world won’t help your cause if the work isn’t good. But don’t make the mistake of thinking the quality of your work by itself will be a shining beacon that pulls clients near.

You can do a lot to show a client how valuable time is in how you comport yourself throughout the project. Run your meetings and work sessions efficiently. Come in prepared. Don’t run over. Don’t hang out. Don’t train clients to think you’ve got extra time on your hands.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, stay in good communication with your clients at all times. They will accept your process as long as you are showing them results. Make sure to set their expectations correctly as to what is happening when.

Over the years the one constant that we’ve been able to rely on is that how a potential client behaves in the business development process is exactly how they will behave during the project. Trust your gut.

Never work for free. Any work you take on for free will get pushed aside for paying work. That does neither you nor the client any favors. Neither of you will respect each other’s time. If the situation merits it, work at a discounted rate. But submit a budget showing the actual rate, with the discount applied. Let the client know the value of what they’re getting.

Not knowing the design language doesn’t make someone a bad client.

Only you know the value of your time. (Hint: it is greater than $0.) But the value of your work to a particular client depends on what the client has to gain from that work. And the client is not buying time from you. They are buying work. The value of that work is what you need to charge them for.

As we tell potential clients when they ask us what their site will look like: “Oh, we have no damn idea. But we know what the process is for finding out.”

But much like the best umbrella is the umbrella you have on you, the best process is always the one you’re having success with. Don’t fall for trendy processes. If the one you’re using works for you, go with it.

You’re not going to ask for permission to do things your way. You’re going to convince clients that your way works by showing them how you will use your process to meet their goals. And you’ll back this up by showing them how many times it’s worked in the past.

Throughout a project you may have to remind a client multiple times that they agreed to follow your process. And throughout a project you will have to convince a client that your process is actually on target to get them the results they need. There will be hand-holding. There will be tough love. But above all, you will have to stand your ground and stick to what you know works.

…just make it a habit never to speak ill of your clients. They’re paying your bills. And putting their livelihood in your hands. They’re good people.

Working with other (talented) designers makes you a better designer, and is essential to your professional development, especially early in your career. There’s simply no better way to learn your craft than to watch someone else practice it.

Not only can a designer change the world, a designer should. This is the best job in the world! Let’s do it right.

Originally collected for Tubik Blog

Welcome to watch 10 TED-talks for creative people

Welcome to check out the set of 30 Eternal Quotes from Design Experts and 30 Bright Quotes About Creativity

Сообщение Design Is a Job. 30 Honest Quotes by Mike Monteiro появились сначала на Design4Users.