Clients fall into three categories:
- Those who know exactly what they want, down to the nearest pixel.
- Those who have a vague idea of what they want but are open to guidance.
- Those who haven't a clue and aren't even sure what the Internet is.
For the first, my role is to convert their design to a webpage.
For the second, it is a two way process - I give them samples and we then modify the design to their request.
The third are the hardest. They never seem to know what they like, but are sure of what they don't like. They remind me of whats-his-name in Little Britain - "I want that.........[I design the site].......I don't like that...."
Occasionally I have to tell 'em what they can't have. The usual things that confuse them are browser screen size [why doesn't my logo fill the screen?!] and wee things like the fact that you can't have text at an angle, like it is on their company brochure.
So generally, I give them loads of advice and give them what they want within the limits I set down. It works well. If they want a luminous site with shed loads of animated gifs, I'll try to talk 'em out of it, but if they won't shift, I'll give 'em the the site of their dreams [even if it is everyone elses nightmare].