https://devsummit.aspirationtech.org/index.php?title=Empowering_Clients_Through_Consulting&feed=atom&action=historyEmpowering Clients Through Consulting - Revision history2024-03-28T10:55:06ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.1https://devsummit.aspirationtech.org/index.php?title=Empowering_Clients_Through_Consulting&diff=1076&oldid=prevVivian: 1 revision imported2015-05-20T21:30:18Z<p>1 revision imported</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>We'll talk about a model of consulting that is focused on the empowerment of the clients that we work with.<br />
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Combined with [[How Developers and Designers Can Learn From Each Other]]<br />
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==Designer/Developer/Empowering Clients==<br />
There's a "magic" quality in design and development - Designer's ask a developer for something that they consider magic ("make this show up here") and Developer's ask a designer to do their own "magic" (i.e. "make this look good.")<br />
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Have developers be part of the process from the beginning - including being there ''during'' the design meetings (or during each story building session if doing agile).<br />
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Talk about the difficulty of starting with a mock-up not having been involved in the IA/Wireframe process) and having to work backwards.<br />
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==Empowering Clients==<br />
Talking about the difficult position of when a client is ''set'' on having something exactly the way they want it. Solution for developers/designers is often just to explain ''why'' they think that it needs to go a different way and to determine ''why'' the client is being inflexible.<br />
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A lot of clients are suffering from Post-Traumatic Web Disorder - the condition of clients who have been burnt by website projects before.<br />
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Best clients can come up with a very well defined plan of what the client ''really'' wants, especially if it can be visual.<br />
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Keep reminding clients and bringing them back to the big picture.<br />
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Ask clients about sites that they:<br />
* Like how they look<br />
* Think are easy to use<br />
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Have clients prioritize what they want out of the website.<br />
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What do you do when clients seem to change their minds in the middle of a project? Step back and think about ''why'' they're doing this. There can be goal shift, or it could be caused by some simple misunderstanding. "False disagreement" might also be the reason.<br />
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Prototyping and having clients using a site or interacting with ''something'' in the first place is a great idea.<br />
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Part of using frameworks is explaining to clients what the benefits and restrictions are of the framework, but this often isn't easy with the post-traumatic crowd.<br />
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===Should clients be given a sandbox?===<br />
* Maybe - but most in the room seem to have had bad luck with this approach.<br />
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===What do you consider a successful project?===<br />
* Is it when there's a clean hand-off and you don't get tons of email from them?<br />
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==Resources for Client Communication==<br />
* paper and pencils<br />
* visual communication of strategic and mission for an organization<br />
* SmartMeme for story training<br />
* Growth Consulting<br />
* Book: Getting to Yes<br />
* Book: Flawless Consulting by Peter Block</div>Vivian