Client Frustration
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- freshmode
Ok. I need someone to console me right now. I am frustrated.
Read this... you will see why.
I love it how clients are more worried about things looking pretty then things working correctly.
The marketing kat came to me and said. "we are looking at the product section, and that's all fine and dandy, buy where is the intro animation? You said that would be done by friday and it's friday. If you can't finish something on time, then you need to come and tell me. I have 5 people waiting in my office right now to see the animation. I need to get through this meeting and I have no intro animation"
So I told him, "well the problem is that we had to change around the navigation. When we did that, everything had to change size and format. So I have the initial version finished, I just haven't integrated it with the current version. But the product section has been giving us major issues with integration."
He said, "So all I have to say is that we haven't integrated the intro yet. But you have it finished right? Can we at least see the one you did before? That way we can get through the meeting."
I said, "Sure, just let me transfer it over and let Bob know the file name."
Now they are all happy. WOW. And to think, I was worried about the actual content of the flash section.
I gave them 6 free hours of my time last night and this morning to get it done. All they are worried about is the intro. You know, the part that everyone skips after they have seen it once or twice.
WTF?
Why is it that someone who has been doing marketing for 15 years has no clue what is really more important.
Please, someone say something that will make me a feel a bit better and will hold me back from putting my fist through this monito!!!
FRESH!
- MrDinky0
dont worry .. you will be like them after 15 yrs....
and some young designer who works under you will be saying the same thing
- matt250
the moron who came up with flash intros for websites should be dragged out into the street and shot.
every client who is clueless or even knows better wants one and they are basically useless
- ok_static0
I don't think it's a problem actually, you're the one responsible for the tech issue.
Otherwise your cilent will built the flash intro himself and not you.
- freshmode0
I agree ok...
but the problem is that I am more worried about making the technical side work. the intro is simple, takes a few hours to do. The main product section allows users to view the companies entire product like. 22 products with image and details. A bit more heavy then the intro...
Try debugging something that large. It has taken about 2-3 weeks to get this done. And the only concern they had was the intro.
And for the record, I will never become vp of marketing anywhere, so in 15 years, I will still be ME!!!!!
=)
FRESH!
- chilaquil0
you need to position yourself as the expert (because supposedly you are, so start acting like it) and when this thing is in the brainstorming stage (before any coding or anything) show the client statistics about usability and about how many people hate intros or skip them. Make sure that you work with objectives that are measureable to a point. Make them fill out a questionaire before where they tell you what the site is supposed to accomplish in terms of marketing. Any details about whether it has an intro or not shit like that shouldn't even be relevant. But you should be well armed with dara for backing anything you say up. You know you can find stuff to back almost anything up. If you have to use Jakob Nielsen, use him. But if you have to use Joshua Davis, use him too. They're both authorities (although they have different viewpoints). Just make sure you don't get caught contradicting yourself. The client in the end will go with what you say because he won't want to look stupid. But you have to have the confidence to position yourself as the expert.
Fuck the marketing guy. Make him look like a moron.
- freshmode0
chilaquil...
Thanks for the lesson. But I did all of that. I am the only person working on a huge corporate website. I did the design, I solved the problems they had with their current site. I gave them stats. I even did storyboards for the site. They changed shit 2 weeks into the project, expecting the same timeline.
After telling them that either we were going to have to extend the time line or give me some overtime, he said, ok we will extend the date to the 27th. He didn't change his meeting date. Now I get screwed because he has 5 other kats posted waiting for an intro.
I know intro's suck. Everyone hates them. At least designers do, but the people that want it, make the rules. No matter what. I can give them stats all day, but if they want it and are going to pay for it, what can I do?
In this case, the intro serves a good purpose. The company just went through a rebrand and wanted to introduce the new logo, new color, and new postergirl to the end user. That is what the intro does. Technology is our friend. So we are using cookies and other scripts to determin if a client has seen the site before or not. If they have, no intro, if they haven't, intro. It is simple. So it doesn't kill anything.
Just venting i guess, but it doesn't make sense where their priorities are right now.
oh well
FRESH!
- unknown0
you gotta look at it from the marketing guys POV. he needs to razzle and dazzle a bunch of people in a meeting. it doesn't matter one bit what's happening in the background as long as he can say that it does what his bosses want.
the details and behind the scenes stuff are obviously not important for this particular meeting. he was probably showing the higher ups and needed to show some eye candy to get their buy off.
make the marketing guy look good, not like a moron. give him what he wants. it's his ass that's going to get burned if he's wrong.
when you get your own comapny you can run it different. until then you are his bitch and if you don't give him what he asks for you will get fired.
you did the right thing by working hard all night to give him the animation he wanted.
- PaulAmbrose0
Sometimes you just need to give in and give them what they want.