Comments on: Design Mock-ups Dont Work?

By: Alec

Alec — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:52:40 +0000

Well written article. I agree that three web design mock-ups are too many but I don’t agree with your process.

I believe once you’ve got past the initial ‘getting to know each other’ meeting, touting your proficiencies in web design and web knowledge, and having won the business, you need to get straight down to brass tacks. An in-depth Q and A session of their web presence requirements, business model, their client habits and behaviors and an analysis of what will make their new web design work for their business is critical. ‘What design they might like’ shouldn’t be at the forefront of their minds no matter how important ‘colour’ is to them… ‘blue is my favourite colour can you design our new website arsenal.com’. It really does come down to making it work for their clients rather then pandering to their personal likes and dislikes.

I use this approach for designing sites for small one-man-bands through to SMEs. I have found that customers much prefer to get down to the bottom line ‘what web design and web functionality is going to get me the amount of customers I need to meet and exceed my targets’.

However blue chips are a different matter. But, when you have that kind of budget 3 mock-ups is hardly a chore. You start out knowing that the final solution will be further from the initial designs then you would have ever hoped.

Mood boards are for interior designers that can’t figure out what their client likes or dislikes.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:16:16 +0000

Excellent article extremely insightful. Mood boards are an great tool for focusing the mind to help with the creation process. We often see mood boards used within interior design (see article http://www.soeasyblinds.co.uk/news/19639464), but there is certainly no reason why they cannot be used in any design process.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:45:38 +0000

Thanks for posting this article. I found it very useful. I think that working with colour theory is a great approach. I usually tend to judge these things by eye, and whilst I don’t generally speak directly to the client in the initial stages of design I can see that having something solid like colour theory would be really helpful for the client to see the thoughts behind the design.

By: website design preston

website design preston — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:47:29 +0000

i would like to link to your site if you would link to mine

By: Getting Design Approval: The Single Mockup Theory

Getting Design Approval: The Single Mockup Theory — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:13:54 +0000

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By: Amelia Vargo

Amelia Vargo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:53:26 +0000

I agree with you. I only do one mock up, I’ve found clients get confused if they see more than one at a time. If they don’t like the first one, we talk about it and usually they go for the second design. I’ve only had one client who didn’t like anything, but then it turned out he wanted the exact same website as his competitor, so that’s what I gave him. His competitor then had a redesign.

By: Nebulas Website Design

Nebulas Website Design — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:27:19 +0000

I agree and have never created more than one design for the client. We ask for to list a few websites that they like the layout of, colours, overall look etc.

Being a web designer is also about interpreting what the client wants which is not an exact science. Creating just one design gives them the best idea you can possibly come up with rather than diluting your ideas into three designs. In our experience this first idea is usually 98% correct and a few tweaks are needed.

By: Dazines

Dazines — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:43:55 +0000

I am not sure I agree. We take a brief from our clients but will always give them more than one option. It might take more time but I think it means you give a higher level of service and usually end up with the best design for your client possible.

By: Paul Terry

Paul Terry — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:14:34 +0000

I think that the client meeting and brief play a far more important role in establishing the design criteria than people give credit.
If you work closely with a client and really put in the effort to look at designs they hate/ love and the reasons why, then you can get an understanding of exactly the sort of design they will like.
If you can do this and the basis of a design can be created the first time you can save hours of frustration working on several different designs.
The more choices you give them the more decisions they have to make.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:24:51 +0000

Really good article.

I would love to spend more time creating more mockups for the client but this often proves expensive in time & budget terms – eating in the time to actually develop the website.

Pen & Paper mockups and finding out exactly what the client whats before doing any mockup are quick and easy ways to find out prehand what the client wants to ensure that when you do your single mockup – it is exactly what the client wants.