This is a humorous video. It conjures up various feelings in everyone who watches it. However, it also highlights some major flaws in true, reliable, customer service. As a web designer, are you truly meeting the needs of your customers? There are tons of blog posts and articles on the Internet from web designers going on and on about nightmare clients and their sometimes ridiculous demands. Many of them are valid rants. However, there are also many of them that may be the direct result of failures on the part of the web designer. This shouldn’t be a shocking revelation, but web designers aren’t always innocent. Failure is a part of every occupation, every business, and every person. To deny it would be ridiculous.
Knowledge and implementation of knowledge is what reduces the frequency of those failures.
As web designers, we need to make sure that we are doing all we can to properly meet the needs of clients (our customers).
Not only do we need to listen to the needs of the client whose site we are designing, we need to understand the nature of the users who are going to be interacting with their website. THIS IS CRITICAL. Too often web designers create a site without doing their homework on who is going to be using the site, resulting in a generic design. When creating a site, we need to look at everything from a ‘dual perspective.’ We need to constantly keep in mind the client’s needs and the site visitors who will be interacting with it.
Sometimes it seems as if we keep pushing the same information about you, but it’s very relevant and true for the discussion at hand. As we have said before…LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN to your clients. RESEARCH their business and understand how to tailor their website to meet their company’s goals. Learn who uses their website and make it a user friendly platform capable of conveying your client’s message to their customers.
“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” ~Bill Gates
Using Mr. Gates’ quote as a focal point, what part of the ‘village’ are you gearing your client’s website to serve? This is an essential element to consider when creating your client’s site. Make sure that the website operates in a way that your client’s customers will “get it.” If they can interact with it in a positive way, the website will be successful.
“Advances in computer technology and the Internet have changed the way America works, learns, and communicates. The Internet has become an integral part of America's economic, political, and social life.” ~Bill Clinton
In designing a website, are you making sure that you are making it an integral part of America’s economic, political, and social life? This is where THE BIG IDEA (Creative Brilliance) that we have discussed before gets put into action! By listening to your client, understanding his business and the nature of its operations, and learning about their customers, you are able to produce a tool (the website) to meet and serve dual needs.
This isn’t an easy task. There isn’t one tried and true formula to achieve this dual purpose. It’s more of a mindset and method of operating. In some ways this might seem a bit obtuse and nebulous. The beauty of it though is that this method of operating is one of the major facets of everything Web 2.0 (creating user-centric, web as platform websites). Most importantly, just make sure that this method of thought and preparation on your part is included in the next design you undertake. If this is followed, you will ensure that you are working properly to achieve the goals set forth by your clients.