- Original Poster
- #1
I have no idea where to post this!
This question is for anyone who interviews clients on mainly website based projects. I talk first about my daily work life and the problems I face in order to give you a better understanding of the advice I'm looking for.
Interview the client
I sit down with my boss and interview the client to find out what they roughly want and then I have to design a unique website concept completely from scratch.
Designing a website
To create the design I often have to use written content from their current website and take photos from their Facebook page, even if during the meeting they say that they will rewrite some text and maybe get some new images sorted which always takes forever.
The text I have to use is always written in away that says nothing about who they are, what they do and who their target audience is and their images are always taken with total disregard towards lighting and composition.
This makes my life really hard when designing a website and my bosses are starting to ask me why my designs look similar to each other and why they are taking longer to produce.
Story and marketing based approach
When I design a website I believe that marketing, sales and a clear narrative should drive the design concept. This will then allow me to be far more creatively focused and provide a much better chance of integrating a strong print and social media marketing plan that drives traffic back to a well thought out website.
To achieve this I believe that I need to sit down with the client after the first meeting to determine what their mission, vision, position and SMART goals are. Then create an assets folder for each page to understand what text and images we can use or need to create in order to tell the story and market the product or service correctly before the design phase starts.
How I feel my bosses work
My bosses don't think about web design in this way. They simply create websites that follow the classic, Home, About, Services, Gallery, and Contact Us pages and use as much of the client's current text and images as they can; where as I want to focus on what the client is offering and base their website purely around that.
What I do
I study UX, graphic design, front end web development, SEO, Copywriting, photography, video editing as well as marketing and sales - a lot I know!
My Questions
Am I working for the wrong company or should I take my time and slowly win my bosses around; or am I simply living in a dream world expecting loads of time and answers to all my questions from clients who probably are just having a website for the sake of having a website?
This question is for anyone who interviews clients on mainly website based projects. I talk first about my daily work life and the problems I face in order to give you a better understanding of the advice I'm looking for.
Interview the client
I sit down with my boss and interview the client to find out what they roughly want and then I have to design a unique website concept completely from scratch.
Designing a website
To create the design I often have to use written content from their current website and take photos from their Facebook page, even if during the meeting they say that they will rewrite some text and maybe get some new images sorted which always takes forever.
The text I have to use is always written in away that says nothing about who they are, what they do and who their target audience is and their images are always taken with total disregard towards lighting and composition.
This makes my life really hard when designing a website and my bosses are starting to ask me why my designs look similar to each other and why they are taking longer to produce.
Story and marketing based approach
When I design a website I believe that marketing, sales and a clear narrative should drive the design concept. This will then allow me to be far more creatively focused and provide a much better chance of integrating a strong print and social media marketing plan that drives traffic back to a well thought out website.
To achieve this I believe that I need to sit down with the client after the first meeting to determine what their mission, vision, position and SMART goals are. Then create an assets folder for each page to understand what text and images we can use or need to create in order to tell the story and market the product or service correctly before the design phase starts.
How I feel my bosses work
My bosses don't think about web design in this way. They simply create websites that follow the classic, Home, About, Services, Gallery, and Contact Us pages and use as much of the client's current text and images as they can; where as I want to focus on what the client is offering and base their website purely around that.
What I do
I study UX, graphic design, front end web development, SEO, Copywriting, photography, video editing as well as marketing and sales - a lot I know!
My Questions
Am I working for the wrong company or should I take my time and slowly win my bosses around; or am I simply living in a dream world expecting loads of time and answers to all my questions from clients who probably are just having a website for the sake of having a website?
