One of my favorite podcasts is The Pitch. A recent episode discussed ‘thinking like a startup’, even if you are a mature business. Accept clients' (and their clients) needs and wants have changed. Not only stop fighting the change, embrace the letting go of baggage of how business used to be done.
It’s quite fun to assume nothing is off the table.
So, let’s think like a startup … The Pitch suggested the first step is to identify your riskiest assumption, then try to prove or disprove it.
1. It’s risky to assume clients value design the same way we do.
We see design as intrinsically valuable but in a client’s eye value is usually tied to expense.
It means as soon as you talk about value you’re in a conversation about cost; usually far too early in the design process to have all the information you need to price accurately.
Maybe: remove the value, replace with impact. The impact design can have socially (people, behaviour, participation), experientially (such as more reliable delivery), environmentally (like less waste and rework) and/or economically (did revenue move, costs drop or retention improve.)
2. It’s risky to assume clients define 'design' the same way you do.
Risky because most people view the creative output as ‘design’, as opposed to design being a process or activity that starts with research/discovery, moves through strategy and execution then culminates with measurement.
So when you talk budget you’re including a design process but the client is ‘seeing’ an end artifact. Two different conversations in two different heads.
Maybe: It’s worth clarifying language at the start of a conversation. Go backwards before you go forwards, especially for new clients. Ask what they think design includes, early and often.
3. It’s risky to assume a client’s ‘desired state’ is achievable.
Risky because without clarifying the current state, the desired state might be unrealistic. Design can move the dial but huge changes depend on a multiplicity of factors.
Maybe: don’t skimp on the discovery phase, and don’t assume the brief is complete. Remember the brief is the problem through your client’s lens and the real ‘job-to-be-done’ might be different to what has been requested.
So what
All three of these come to the same conclusion, stop assuming you know what’s needed and start checking/researching. Clarify definitions before pricing. Replace value with impact.
That’s what thinking like a start up is, more conversations/discussions less certainty and pitch decks.
Designers are (rightly) frustrated at the moment. We’re grieving for what used to work. Reduce the frustration by embracing the now. Clients are risk-averse, budgets are tight and deadlines are short. We can’t control these external pressures but we can control how we think and respond to them.
What do you think?
What have I got wrong?
As always, happy to discuss further, just email Carol
Carol Mackay
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