Build a relationship with your clients that sets you up as the professional in this field. You are the one they brought in to fix their problems with X, so they should listen to you about X.
This sets you up to either deflect, or redirect these topics. Deflections is easier: "The colors and logos are important, but they are more of a question for your graphic designer." redirection is trickier and will often require some coaching and if you can point to a passage in one or more books to back you up, that is even better. "Where the toolbar will go is very important, but to know this we must nail down what needs to go in the toolbars first. This is because a toolbar with 5 items needs much less space than one that needs 20 items." "To know what transitions to use, we need to know what we are transitioning." And if all else fails, don't forget you are a professional. Which means you are not doing your job if the client is getting you off topic and wasting their own money. So don't let them. Tell them flat out that they are focused on things that do not matter nearly as much as other things, and tell them what those other things are. Refuse to talk about colors if colors don't matter. But this will only work if you've built that relationship ahead of time. Be no-nonsense in meetings and when working. Like users, bosses aren't stupid, they are busy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=40936 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
