Comments on: Introducing Zenlog: the Web Design Blog with the Client in Mind http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:25:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: Adam Messinger http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56957 Sat, 12 May 2007 23:18:44 +0000 http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56957 <em>@Jack:</em> Right on. Helping the client achieve their business goals is job one. If the designer or developer isn't speaking a language the client can understand, they can't do their job. Taking this approach can admittedly be challenging. Technology-related questions can often be answered with a high-level overview that sticks to the crux of the problem without drifting off into implementation details. Design-related questions are tough, because there are still so many people who think of design as something totally subjective. I have some good strategies for persuading a client who's full of bad design ideas, but I'm saving them for a future blog post. You'll have to <a href="http://www.zenscope.com/blog/rss/" title="Yes, I am shameless and unrelenting in my self-promotion." rel="nofollow">subscribe to get them</a>. ;-) <em>@cat:</em> I keep reading that one should find a niche. I'm not sure if this is "nichey" enough, but it's something I feel strongly about. Thanks for your feedback. I hope you'll stop by and give me a read in the future. <a href="http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/" title="The Business of Design Online" rel="nofollow">BoDo</a>, by the way, is an <em>excellent</em> resource. Any designer who's reading this should go there right now <a href="http://www.zenscope.com/blog/rss/" title="There I go again..." rel="nofollow">subscribe to the Zenlog RSS feed</a>, then visit BoDo for some business tips. Cat &#38; Co. are doing the designers of the world a great service with that site. @Jack: Right on. Helping the client achieve their business goals is job one. If the designer or developer isn’t speaking a language the client can understand, they can’t do their job.

Taking this approach can admittedly be challenging. Technology-related questions can often be answered with a high-level overview that sticks to the crux of the problem without drifting off into implementation details. Design-related questions are tough, because there are still so many people who think of design as something totally subjective.

I have some good strategies for persuading a client who’s full of bad design ideas, but I’m saving them for a future blog post. You’ll have to subscribe to get them. ;-)

@cat: I keep reading that one should find a niche. I’m not sure if this is “nichey” enough, but it’s something I feel strongly about. Thanks for your feedback. I hope you’ll stop by and give me a read in the future.

BoDo, by the way, is an excellent resource. Any designer who’s reading this should go there right now subscribe to the Zenlog RSS feed, then visit BoDo for some business tips. Cat & Co. are doing the designers of the world a great service with that site.

]]> by: cat http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56600 Fri, 11 May 2007 15:43:33 +0000 http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56600 What an excellent idea for a blog. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for a review. What an excellent idea for a blog. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for a review.

]]> by: Jack Wheeler http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56525 Fri, 11 May 2007 06:33:51 +0000 http://www.adammessinger.com/2007/05/10/introducing-zenlog#comment-56525 Adam, I think you are dead-on in your thinking. The client has to be a designer's first priority. My blog is relatively new and I'm attempting to provide similar information as you. My clients tend to be not only computer illiterate, but also very anxious about what they don't know. Shop-talk only makes them feel dumb and frustrated. I believe that the more we attempt to bridge that gap and communicate in a way that our clients can understand, the more success we'll find. Best of luck! Adam, I think you are dead-on in your thinking. The client has to be a designer’s first priority. My blog is relatively new and I’m attempting to provide similar information as you. My clients tend to be not only computer illiterate, but also very anxious about what they don’t know. Shop-talk only makes them feel dumb and frustrated. I believe that the more we attempt to bridge that gap and communicate in a way that our clients can understand, the more success we’ll find. Best of luck!

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