Moving clients in new directions

 “That’s the way it’s always been done” is the battle cry of a client who is stuck in a rut.  For designers this outlook can stifle creative solutions and kill projects. Here are three ways to break your client out of stagnant thinking.

1.     Ask questions: Organizations, like people, are creatures of habit. Designers can use the “Five Whys” strategy to challenge their clients thinking, without seeming pushy. By simply asking “why” in five successions, designers can get to the root causes of client rationalizations.

2.     Offer options:  Often clients make false choices between two options as a reason for staying with standard approaches. The more options you can offer, the more opportunity you have to breech clients conventions.

3.     Think big picture: Clients can be short sighted which can keep them locked into established practices and expectations. By talking about the big picture, designers can move clients toward design solutions with long-term gains.