Effects of design by committee! What are your thoughts?

[keithdevon]

Hi guys (and gals),

I’m doing some freelance work through an agency. The project is very low budget and I wasn’t given much to work with, other than another site for inspiration. I’ve attached two home page designs. One is my original mock-up, the other is the new version after client feedback. I know which I prefer. Which one do you think works best and why?

Thanks,

Keith

[Luminated]

I prefer yours overall, big pictures are so essential to web design lately. The revised version looks more like a simple contact page and doesn’t get me excited to investigate more of the site whatsoever. I also prefer the logo above the navbar, since that’s a common place for the user to anticipate its location. Yours is cleaner and more along the lines of the current web trends.

[keithdevon]

Thanks Luminated,

I wish I could convince the client! Unfortunately I’m working through an agency, so I don’t get to talk to the client directly.

Do you have any good ways of convincing people that you know what you are doing, or do you have to give in sometimes?

Keith

[EhhWhat]

agree that your first version is a lot better.

Only way i can think you can convince the client otherwise is to give them information about why they are wrong.

Tell them why a bigger image is better
Tell them users will expect a logo in the top left
etc
etc

if they dont agree, finish the designs their way but dont include them in your portfolio of work.

[keithdevon]

What are the arguements for a bigger picture other than, "it looks nicer"? More engaging, visually appealing? It’s hard to back up with facts. It’s such an aesthetic consideration that maybe his opinion is at least as (or more) valid than mine.

If the client likes something then maybe his target market will too. After all, he’s not selling to web/graphic designers. Sometimes you just have to do what the client wants.

I had an interesting experience recently when I designed this site (http://www.royalulsteracademy.org). My initial mock-ups were much more visually exciting whilst still being minimal. However, they requested that nearly every graphic element was removed (including boxes). I wasn’t happy with the end result but the feedback from their members has been fantastic! There are so many lessons to learn!

Here are the latest versions of the current project.

Keith

[Author]

Posts