Provide for a Bail-Out
It doesn’t happen very often, but there is the possibility that after you spend 30 or 40 hours on a design concept, you and the client realize it is impossible to work together. For this potential situation, make it very clear, in writing, how to proceed in such a case. For instance, the client might say, “I haven’t gotten anything usable from you!” And you might say, “Well, that’s because you are mean and rude and negative and Athena herself couldn’t make you happy!” You want to keep the 1/3 deposit because you spent 40 hours trying to please this obnoxious rat, and he wants his 1/3 deposit back because he “didn’t get anything.” Your fee for having created work the client won’t use is actually called a “kill fee” and is very typical in other businesses, like freelance writing. Having it in writing earlier will not entirely solve the problem, but it will at least give both of you a place from which to mediate the issue.Pre-Design Checklist
This is an encapsulation of the pre-design work you should cover before you start designing actual pages.
- Explain your approach to the development process and payment terms to the client before starting any work on the project.
- Research your client and their customers. Talk with your clients, learn all about them, their existing branding, what they want to achieve with this web site, etc.
- Get very specific with the client about the site: do they want printable pages, motion graphics, browser compatibility back to 2.0, etc.
- Learn what all the available options are that can help your clients achieve their goals with this site. If you’re going to need programmers, contact them now.
- Choose a web hosting server. Together with your programmer, make sure the host can accommodate any special features and technologies in your site plan.
- Understand your audience and the usability factors that will make a difference to their comprehension of the site.
- Technical factors will influence your design decisions. Learn how browsers, bandwidth, and computer platforms will have an impact on the ultimate design of your site.
- Anticipate the need for assistance on the project. If you think you’ll have to enlist the help of a programmer, HTML producer, or even a full development team, book their time early so they’ll be available when you need them.
- Set your client’s expectations prior to embarking on the design process. Agree upon the scope of the project beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings later on.
- Make a detailed plan, a written specification document that describes the project, categories, pages, features, etc. Have the client sign off on the plan. Remember, creating the plan is billable work!
This article was last modified on January 6, 2023
This article was first published on January 21, 2002
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