Communicating with developers and the client is also an important part of design work that we should all improve on. This skill is referred to as a soft skill. Research by Harvard, Stanford, and the Carnegie Foundation prove that 85% of career success depends on soft skills. One of these skills is building the right communication with the client.
Although I’ll be speaking from the perspective of the designer, this article will be useful to anyone who works with people who decide the outcome of their work. Newbies may overlook their responsibilities, believing that once they receive an assignment, they can leave for a month and then quietly email a link to the completed design. As a result, they repeat the same mistakes, risking their professional reputation and future success.
There is no such thing as a bad client or a bad designer—everything works out when you set up effective processes in your team. However, someone must be in charge of creating and managing these processes. After reading this article, I’m confident you’ll be able to fill that job.
By “client” I broadly refer to freelance customers, managers, product owners, and developers—that is, everyone involved in the creation of a product. Something else may refer more directly to the owners of the business or to members of your community.
