Comments on: 7 Things Web Designers Hate Hearing from Clients

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:59:29 +0000

Kayla, you are wise beyond your years. Excellent article.

By: Viron Media

Viron Media — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:09:11 +0000

Some of these questions are all too common for web designers. How you handle these generally comes with experience and a good work ethic. Your suggestions were very good though.

By: Usability Vlaanderen

Usability Vlaanderen — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:23:30 +0000

Very recognisable. Usability professionals meet such clients too. In general it’s a red flag, if you can afford it: leave them asap.

By: luqa

luqa — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:47:53 +0000

I hate when they want a cheap price because ‘that’s easy to do’ or ‘there is a lot of open source stuff that you could use’… Well if it was that easy why don’t you do it yourself? Obviously I don’t say that, I just ignore that part:P

By: Totem Web Design

Totem Web Design — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:22:21 +0000

Good tips Kayla. I had some experience as an account manager that is now serving me quite well when it comes to dealing with design customers! Expectation setting, expectation setting and write it down!

By: St Paul

St Paul — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 16:49:32 +0000

I like the first part, about the budget. I get that a ton! It took over a year to realize that passing up some potential work can be beneficial, especially since people on a “tight budget” seem to want to nit pick the most. Why? I have no idea.

All in all, great article

By: Gemma

Gemma — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:33:26 +0000

Good article.

However, all of these people criticising Kayla are likely the kind of clients Kayla discussed in the article. The article obviously touched a raw nerve.

Kayla has a very good idea of how to deal with these types of clients and I applaud her for being savvy at the age of 20. BTW, there are plenty of 20 year olds out there who are more business-savvy than a 50 year old who has been doing business for 20+ years! Age has very little to do with how much one really knows – and that applies to all areas of life, not just business.

Another thing to note, respect is key. It’s a two way street. If a potential client comes to me and shows me he couldn’t give a rat’s backside about me as a designer and the fact that I have a skillset, and that I have bills to pay, then there’s no chance I’ll show him the level of respect he thinks he deserves. Instead, he’ll be shown the door.

However, I do realise that a lot of people don’t know the first thing about design, and I can handle that by educating them. But when a client doesn’t want to be educated and insists on treating you and your business like dirt, then by all means, show him the door.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:29:58 +0000

Learning to take criticism is a huge part of the job. But it is not a matter of just learning to not feel hurt but how to take what on the surface appears to be meaningless uninformed comments into feedback that is constructive. Learning to “understand” and draw out the meanings of client comments is a very valuable skill.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:18:24 +0000

Very good article about the 7 things web designers hate to hear from clients, with useful advice on how to handle each of the changes/decisions from the clients. Thanks!

By: Martin Oxby

Martin Oxby — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:48:27 +0000

Firstly, please disregard the comments people have levelled at you for this article. Some people can be too judgemental too quickly.

This was a good read and encouraging to hear many people with similar stories.

My key bug-bear are people that think that they’ve done a course on Frontpage and read an article once on Google that they can design a website and manage the SEO. The idea that both are somehow ‘simple’ really gets to me.

Client’s vary drastically from the uninformed to the actively interested business owner and that’s what’s makes this job so great and a development challenge.

Thank you :)