Obviously, the mentioned factors established strong support for the growth of the outsourcing sector in global business. No doubt, it happened not only in design, still, design is definitely in the top list of the spheres which witnessed the most considerable growth of the field around the world. How did it influence the process of product design? Today we would like to provide our readers with a quick and concise review of the benefits and possible pitfalls both for outsourcing design and in-house product design. The review is based on the practical experience of Tubik Studio, the team that has already tried both directions in the design sphere and is ready to share some ideas with the design community.

Outsource design

Being a team with a broad portfolio of outsource projects and having studied the experience of our clients as well as plenty of successful product companies, Tubik Studio have marked out the following points needing consideration.

— In the outsource design process you are given a particular design task. That means you are able to concentrate on design tasks only as the strategic decisions are mostly made on the customer’s side. In practice, however, this disclaimer works a bit differently: creating design solutions solving users’ problems and bringing profit to the customers, designers can and often should influence the strategy of the product progress on the market. Anyway, all the final decisions and small or big changes of the product strategy are made by the customer’s team as they bear the final responsibilities and all the alterations or suggestions should be made in tight collaboration with the side launching the product.

— In outsource design you work on the task you are assigned for, you are not a chooser of the strategy and not a decision-maker if this product is needed and if the idea behind it is good or bad. You have to study how to like and love any idea you have to work with because it is the only way to create good results and by the way to earn money. That is not in your scope of work to get into deep layers and tell the client that this idea will not work — your task is to make it work. That is what you are paid for.

— In outsource design you need to have good skills of getting dip into the business goals and correspondent wishes of your client. In fact, if you are lucky you get a clear task supported with the outlined target audience of the final product, perhaps marketing plan and ideas on the client’s stylistic preferences. In other cases, you will get just a general line containing highly blurred tasks like «I want you to design a social network for drivers» and that is the part of the job to get all the details of how the clients see it. It can be done by designers, sales, and project managers, but whoever the doer of this vital job is, it is the only way to make the process of collaboration on the stage of design smooth and resultative.

— In outsource design you aren’t always provided with the opportunity to communicate with stakeholders and influence their decisions. You are hired to accomplish a particular scope of works. It has to be mentioned that for many designers it is a benefit as they start work with a particular task in mind and do not need to get involved deeply at pre-design or post-design stages. However, there also can be projects at which after the launch of the product designers are later given additional tasks on maintenance and alterations of the existing product.

In-house product design

— In product design accomplished in-house all the scope of stages from ideation up to sophisticated testing and maintenance is done by one team. This means that designers get more chances of being involved in all the phases of strategical decision-making upon the product which is an even more creative and analytical job but at the same time requiring more diverse skills and much higher responsibility.

— Full-scope in-house product design goes much further than actual design tasks. It includes all the creative cycle, with complex of tactic and strategic plans, ideas on commercialization and promotion, budgeting and content marketing, product philosophy and full-scope branding, and so on and so forth. It means that the team will need diverse specialists that will establish a solid foundation of specific skills strengthening design and bringing an effective product into life.

— In in-house product design, the creators are the stakeholders. This certainly means deeper involvement of all the participants into the creative process and at the same time more responsibilities.

— Product design accomplished in-house is the domain of higher financial and creative risks. In outsource design, especially when the process is already tuned and clear, the earnings can be more predictable and flexible in the budget planning of the company.

— Product design accomplished in-house suggests a deep concentration on one project and one aim for a long time while outsourcing projects can be different and support the feeling of refreshment. Should be said, none of the ways is better or worse, they are just different, and sometimes what is one designers’ meat is another designer’s poison according to the individual peculiarities of nature and creative approach.

To sum up, in outsource design you are a vital part of the product creation and support while in product design you are actually in the heart of all the processes being not a part but the whole story. In outsource design you are a sort of hired executive while in product design you are a stakeholder with all the responsibilities of this not-so-easy job.

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Outsource vs In-House Design. Brief Review появились сначала на Design4Users.

Studio designers and project managers brainstorm

Today, we decided to think over this important part of the design process, which is constantly proven as one of the keys to efficient performance and high productivity.

The Essence of Project Management

Project management could actually be defined as the process of supporting and maintaining efficient, fast, and productive communication between all sides of the project (customer(s), designer(s), developer(s), sales manager(s), etc.) Actually, the project manager is a specialist who provides communication at all levels and general supervision of all the processes, obtains and processes necessary information, together with the creator, estimates the time of accomplishment for the design task, and – one of the hardest things for creative guys! – follows and keeps the deadlines, pulling all the ropes necessary to do it.

One of the famous American speakers and specialists in human behavior, Denis Waitley, said: “Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised”. That is a really exact description of the project management process in design, full of surprises, discussions, disagreements, and iterations, but still working much better when carefully planned and controlled.

Project Management in Practice

One of Tubik Studio’s project managers, Olena is sincerely keen to tell our readers a bit more about the backstage of the design process from the perspective of project management as the supportive link between designers and customers. Having extensive experience working on diverse design projects, she emphasizes that a lot of points in creating handy UX/UI design features are put to use by the studio team on a daily basis, and that is the result of talents working on the basis of good team spirit and efficient organization. So, let’s catch up with her practical ideas based on devoted work in the design field.

Project manager and UI/UX designer discussing feedback from customers 

Aiming at the individuality and uniqueness of every product we tackle, the sheer application of modern design strategies and tendencies seems not enough to end up with fruitful results. It is also important not to give a miss to what stands behind the actual workflow and how projects are carried out from an organizational point of view. Accordingly, Olena would like to share some project management tips today, focusing on high-performance leverages.

To start off, let’s shed some light on the importance of boosting designers’ efficiency. The issue is quite simple in theory and surprisingly complex in practice: happy designers do a great job! Eager to work, they think out of the box and put forward original and working solutions to any challenge they face. In addition, they stick to deadlines and, even if timeframes are a bit exceeded, your customers feel satisfied since they know for sure that the designer works his/her fingers to the bone, brainstorming and trying out all possible means to breathe life into the project. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Here are a few points that can break the ice and trigger designers’ creativity and energy to work.

Project manager Olga and studio designers testing the upcoming app

Project Manager’s practical tips

1. Customer and Designer: two peas in a pod.
Do not forget that each stakeholder thinks differently. In other words, you have to be aware that customers and designers take things individually. The former are inclined to conjure up future design mostly from a layman’s perspective, while the latter adds a professional touch, which sometimes contradicts what your customer wants.

There is no need to explain how stressful such a situation is for each party. The role of a project manager here is to bridge the gap between both. You need to explain to your customer that the designer struggles for the best outcome: modern approach, usability, high conversion rate, etc. On the other hand, be obstinate in persuading the designer that some sacrifices to his/her concept will do no harm to the project, and there are often ways to reach a consensus thanks to alternative solutions.

Dive deep into the creative process

Moreover, prove both parties have an opportunity to talk to each other because personal involvement makes wonders and conciliates contradictory points of view. The more they communicate, the more plausible chances are they will head for the same goal in the same direction.

2. Be a source of inspiration.
It does not mean you should turn into a fairy godmother. You just need to keep your designer’s creative poise. This is a tricky task as we are all human beings with mood swings, up and downs of life, and weather sensitivity – anyone can insert one more million reasons here.

However, either down in the dumps or on cloud nine, it is crucial to stay professional and cope with constantly upcoming tasks. You cannot be a savior to your designer’s life breakdowns, but, luckily enough, there is a hot tip to rouse their creativity from slumbers. English proverb saying that “Patience is a plaster for all sores” is an ideal piece of advice for a PM, though it does not answer the question of how to deal with crestfallen designers.

Just try to put forward as many ideas to the project as you can. They may be totally absurd or useful – the designer you work with will benefit from each! In the worst course of events, any professional would not put up with silly and unpractical recommendations. Normally, they get a bit irritated at the subliminal level due to weird suggestions that crank up the mechanism of contradiction. A person tries to bring about some ideas out of accord with what you offer. Needless to say, their ideas are full of professionalism and determination. Whenever you toss up useful suggestions, they can be further developed and polished by the expert, but at least he/she would climb out of the stagnation pit.

Project management is all about support.

In any case, this unobvious brainstorm brings high chances of boosting performance and keeping the designer inspired.

3. Find a personal approach to everyone.
It is not about an assembly line; there isn’t a comprehensive method to manage everyone and everything. Some people prefer working on their own, so if that is the case with you, do not poke your nose into what they do five times a day. Try to avoid disturbing them, referring generally to management issues only. Your golden rule is to do your best to ensure people can seek your help at any time.

Independent and resilient designers will still appeal to you when they need whereas shy personalities will pluck at you as a drowning man at a straw. On the contrary, some designers are more productive when they have someone to discuss the project with. Do not let him/her feel forlorn and desperate. Be there for support! This not only makes the designer you work with feel better but also contributes to your own deeper insight into the project flow.

To sum up, stay creative, and do not forget: it is designers who play a key role in the project, but you are the one who sets the pace. Be a conductor to make your orchestra perform successfully on the world stage.

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Project Management. Design Process Backstage появились сначала на Design4Users.

Most of the designers working in Tubik Studio have tried in practice both workstyles, which are typical for today’s designers in the sphere of web, app, and branding design: most started their path as freelancers before getting into the team. So, using the advantage of real-life experience, we would like to discuss the high and low sides of freelance or work in the studio or agency. Obviously, a lot of things have already been discussed in numerous articles on this topic, but perhaps our thoughts can also become useful for those who are considering the theme.

Freelance

No doubt, due to the new technological horizons a couple of decades ago, freelance became the new and broad perspective of organizing work routines. It opened wide opportunities for talented people who could not leave their homes, such as the disabled or parents of babies and toddlers. This kind of workstyle brought easy solutions for a lot of problems and let the people realize their abilities against all the odds, so very soon, it was taken over and improved by a huge number of professionals in different spheres. The accents moved a bit: a lot of people made the choice of freelancing not because they didn’t need to go to an office but first of all because they could work for themselves and be the only people responsible for their own decisions, choosing the partners or customers and depending on themselves. Freelance workstyle gave them the feeling of freedom.

Benefits

• You are free to choose the projects and customers you want or do not want to work for;
• You make your own choice of place and time of work;
• You do not depend on other people and are able to estimate your own productivity;
• You decide what kind of tools to use for any stage of the project you work on;
• You don’t spend money on transport and other costs obvious for those who work in the office;
• You control your workload and decide on the flow and priorities of projects;
• You are totally responsible for your creative decisions and are free to stop working on the project whenever you want.

Drawbacks

• Less (or absent) guarantees of successful payment;
• Less (or absent) guarantees of steady workload;
• No support for creative blocks and problematic issues;
• A great amount of time is spent on communication with customers, which can be not only time-consuming but also highly stressful);
• Work under pressure of responsibility 100% of the time;
• Absence or lower amount of live communication with colleagues on a regular basis;
• No financial support in cases of sickness or holidays.

Responsibilities

• You are the person responsible for communication at all levels;
• You are the person in the business controlling the financial flows, income, and expenses;
• You set the deadlines and have to control them by yourself;
• You work from home or any other place and should control the influence of the conditions on your productivity;
• The scope of work you can supply is limited by your personal abilities and talent;
• You have to be strong-willed and highly organized to efficiently separate your work time and personal time.

Bottom line
This way of work demands a high level of total and absolute responsibility in case the person wants to become really successful rather than just make a living. In the sphere of design, you have to become a “Jack of all trades,” being able to organize an efficient workplace, have fast and easy communication, keep deadlines, control finances, and improve as a professional all at the same time.

Teamwork

Talking about the design sphere, teamwork usually means that you become a part of a design studio or agency. Certainly, this style of work is different from the one described above, not only in terms of workflow itself but also in terms of process organization.

Benefits

– In most cases, a team consists of diverse professionals in design, and this gives a broad space of creativity and high chances of getting involved in complex design projects;
– Working in a team has a higher level of stability in workload, planning time, and finances;
– In many cases, it gives a faster way of successfully presenting yourself as an international design community as a result of the accumulated efforts of all the team members;
– Teams include not only designers but also managers who are a real and important support in terms of communication with customers, including the cases of solving conflicts and misunderstandings that are unavoidable in full-time creative work; moreover, it saves your time, which you are able to devote to pure creativity instead of organizational and communication issues;
– Team has a great advantage of brainstorming and collective mind that can become very supportive, especially in case of creative block or complex task;

– Team can take big and complex design projects, splitting the parts of it to the designers who are the most capable of producing final results good for all the team productivity;
– Team provides regular communication both with designers and managers, which is good for self-improvement and building social relationships;
– You have a clear separation of your working space and personal space, which is a vital condition of personal comfort for many people;

– You have a feeling of somebody to back you up that can give you more confidence;
– The team has more variants of promotion and presenting its members. In the case of the design sphere, it is sometimes a less time-consuming and faster way to get involved in the community and take the support and popularity of being a part of the team;

– The flow of information exchange and circulation is much faster and more efficient increasing the level of general team productivity and problem-solving potential;
– Team can bring good friends into your life as well as inspiration and live energy absorbed from the other people around.

Drawbacks
– You have to organize your routine according to the schedule of work with a team, whichever flexible could be the variants offered to you;
– You have to get ready to be a part of a group. It’s vital to know that even presenting yourself as a designer, you are working in the team and for the team;
– You are working in a set of restrictions, and in many cases, you are assigned the projects, not choosing the tasks but getting them for your consideration and accomplishment.

Responsibilities
– You have to be aware that you are part of the team, but as well the team is an integral part of your image;
-You are always involved in more or less active communication flow, which is natural for any kind of work. That means that you should take into account the interests, habits, characters, and thoughts of other people around you;
-You have to consider not only your personal interests and prospects but also the interests and prospects of the team.

Bottom line
Teamwork has its own responsibilities and seems more than freelance, although in most cases, it is an illusion. Teamwork provides the chance of taking the best from delegating responsibilities between the people who are the best for the role, so a designer has more time for pure design and creative work as well as professional self-improvement, not bothering so much about management and organizational issues.

Conclusion

Definitely, none of the benefits or drawbacks are absolute: as all people are different, the methods of workstyle for their best productivity should also be various. No secrets or tricks; just one man’s loss is the other man’s gain. Some of us are amazing team players, while others prefer full responsibility and decision-making only on their own shoulders. None is bad or good; all those things are extremely individual.

Inside the studio, we have gathered people who are consciously keen and able to take all the advantages of teamwork. It never ever means that any of them has lost their freedom, as all people in the studio have enough of their own private space and the chances of work not being disturbed. However, this kind of freedom is always supported with all the team who are invisibly behind you and ready to back up any moment it’s needed. So, we think that teamwork organized wisely and thoughtfully doesn’t take away designers’ individual space or freedom – vice versa, it adds to it the power of solid support and prospective ways for bigger and more complex, therefore more interesting and challenging projects and tasks.

Originally written for Tubik Blog.

Сообщение Design Workstyle. Freelance VS Teamwork появились сначала на Design4Users.

In one of our previous articles, we have already mentioned the benefits of prototyping for designing a strong and positive user experience and reviewed one of the popular prototyping tools Pixate. Today we are going to continue this conversation by describing the other efficient software for prototyping called InVision.

General description of the tool

InVision is the comprehensive prototyping software supporting the process of designing user interfaces for mobile applications and other sorts of digital interactive products. Now it is one of the major players on the market, perhaps due to constant improvement and extensions of the functionality that the company adds to the product as well as the strong informative support via its Blog which shares diverse cases and articles on design.

The basic idea behind InVision is fast and easy to create a live prototype from static images of any fidelity level. The tool provides the ability to upload wireframes that can be more or less detailed and with the functional facilities of the software they are automatically transformed into the prototype of the app. It is possible to follow the necessary transitions, test the buttons, analyze the layout in the mock-up of the device interface.

Working over numerous projects on UI/UX design for mobile applications here in Tubik, we are usually keen to try different tools and software to increase productivity and – what is more important – efficiency of design workflow and communication with the customers. These are the reasons why the InVision prototyping tool has become popular here in cases of app design. Being simple and clear in its interface, it doesn’t scare clients who can be easily involved in the process; in addition, it provides numerous functions enabling designers to make the process of testing design faster and easier in terms of productive teamwork.

Why should you try prototyping?

As we have already mentioned plenty of times in our earlier blog posts, prototyping is the essential stage of the design process when the user interface for a mobile application or a website is created. Based on our practical experience, we can definitely say that prototyping is the stage when testing can save time, effort, and money.

Let’s see, how the process is going on here in the studio. After setting clear objectives for the product, conducting user and market research, and defining and analyzing the target audience designer starts working on the initial UX design solutions. This is the time when the living organism of the future product gets into its skeleton and all the elements that have to be included started functioning as a united system. The designer thinks over all the layout, forms the group of screens, decides on their functionality and transitions, and thinks over the most efficient variants of placement for interactive elements and CTAs. The result of this process, based on a great deal of thinking and analysis, is initially given out as a system of UX wireframes. This is usually the set of screens done in a limited color palette and its main goal is to set all the logic and functionality of the future application. And this is the high time when the team involved in the design process could apply a prototype to make a full analysis of design solutions before starting the UI design stage.

A lively and clickable prototype tested in the mock-up of an actual device screen you design for is a great and fast way to reveal any sort of problems influencing the usability of the product. It lets all sides of the design process – designers, managers, QA testers, and clients – have actual experience of interaction with the future product, to ensure that there are no missing parts or unnecessary steps in the process, to test if all the elements are logical and placed right.

The great advantage of the InVision tool is that due to its functionality it’s now rather easy to apply the technology of prototyping, in fact, almost at all the stages of the design process as it is not time-consuming to upload the static images of the screens and form the prototype with them. That means that it’s possible to start effective testing from the very first groups of screens to see how they provide the logic of the layout and transitions.

Moreover, in the case of using the tool, it is also possible to test all the UI decisions in the clickable prototype and see them actively used. The designer can apply animation and simulate gestures using tools’ native functionality to make the prototype feel even more realistic and the experience very close to natural.

The power of collaboration

What we especially appreciate about InVision software here in Tubik Studio is its strong and constant support of efficient collaboration in the design process. Knowing that fast feedback from the client is a vital feature of the effective and productive design workflow, the creators of this tool made it convenient and clear not only for designers and project managers who are usually fast in dealing with different tools and soft but also for those customers who are not really avid software users and it takes some effort for them to deal with the new tool. InVision has good navigation and is user-friendly for different types of users.

The tool enables creators to get a clickable prototype and at the same time to communicate on every smallest part of it. That means clients are able to set their feedback not only to a particular screen but even to a particular element of the screen such as a button or toggle, shade or shape, piece of copy, or graphic icon – anything. It provides the functionality of multiple threads and therefore designers, managers, and clients can discuss particular elements quickly and set a more productive workflow together.

Additional features

Except for the general functionality of the prototyping process, some important additional features of the tool should be also mentioned:

• Easy and fast integration with other design tools for efficient work, such as Sketch or Photoshop, for example, from which the wireframes can be directly uploaded to InVision.
• Supporting cross-platform experience: the tool provides the ability to set sizes and resolutions of different devices you design for. This feature is highly applicable in the process of responsive design and mobile adaptations.
• Easy control and marking of project statuses for efficient project management.
• Functionality for creating and presenting mood boards, brand boards, galleries, and style guides.
• Tools for direct live communication right from the project account. Especially appreciated by the teams working remotely.
• Saving versions history to easily compare several versions of design solutions.
• Diverse functions and features for creating high-fidelity prototypes that can be used for user testing before the stage of development.

So, the software has shown itself as an important tool for improving teamwork and the process of testing design solutions as well as tight collaboration with the customers. Those positions are among the key points of an efficient design process providing thought-out, high-quality, and user-friendly designs.

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Design Tool Review: InVision 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

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