Transcript IO3060 – Creating in project teams

Client Satisfaction
Project Management
“Managing client relations is one of the
hardest but most important things to do for a
designer”
Erik, Fleur, Hella, Milou
Erik & the sunshine girls
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Client relations and scoping
Research question:
“How to reach maximum client satisfaction in a
design context?”
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Conducting 9 interviews with experts in the
design field -> A lot of Quotes!
Analyzing articles about client relations
Theory about the design brief
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Design brief
Design process
Communication
Influence
Involvement
Client-Designer relations
Client satisfaction
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Learning about your way to satisfy a client
Theory
Interactive sessions
Discussions
Introduction game: communication
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Stick card with description onto your
forehead
!!! DON’T LOOK AT IT BEFOREHAND !!!
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Guess through communicating what’s on
the card
you have 3 min
Form groups
Definition:
“Written description to define goal of the
assignment and stimulate creativity, critical
thinking and problem solving abilities.”
“FRAMEWORK TO INSPIRE”
(James Rice, marketing/communication expert)
Why do we need a design brief?
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Know what to achieve from the project
Point of reference for designers, giving them
key points to focus on
A good start is half the work!
Definition: A systematic problem solving
strategy, with criteria and constraints, used to
develop one final choice.
www.wikid.eu
Jan Buijs model
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Design brief
Product design
Product launch
Evaluation
Strategic positioning
Search area’s
A client hires you to do one (or all) of these
steps:
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Market research
Fuzzy font end
Concept design
Embodiment design
Detail design
Prototyping
Design brief exercise
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Watch video of client and listen to what he
wants
Design brief exercise
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Write the design brief for this project.
- What information did the client provide?
- What information is missing in this brief for
you to start working on the project?
Write down your findings
Design brief exercise
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Write the design brief for this project.
- What information did the client provide?
- What information is missing in this brief for
you to start working on the project?
Write down your findings
Design brief exercise
Requirements derived from video
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Expand market
Wants to produce toothbrushes
Non-electrical
Curved shape
Rubber thing for tongue
As Soon As Possible
Bring onto market together with new product
line.
Design brief exercise
Underlying problem
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Why?
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What?
It’s a marketing trick to make more people
buy Elmex products (branding: strengthen
market identity)
The toothbrush should complete a new
product line, but it shouldn’t be an excitingly
new product
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First meeting  reformulate design brief
Dummy/professional client
One vision
Clarifying a clear goal
Formality
Format of a Design Brief
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Not one single correct format
Desired Format
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Descriptive title
Project overview and background
Corporate profile, market position & current situation
Problem description and challenge
Target Audience
Business requirements (time, cost, quality)
Limitations / Requirements
Schedule & deadlines
Responsibilities
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Planning
◦ “The client needs something to hold on to and you should
try to provide this with a good planning” Henk Crone
◦ “It is important to display the duration of several steps and
explain why things take time and why the first prototype
cannot just be the right one.” Jurre G
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Milestones
◦ “It is imperative to have a meeting with your client before steps
are irreversible. Otherwise you are too late.” Max vd Laan
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Starting point of process and steps can differ
Make agreements on money, planning and
deadlines
◦ Can be a written design brief or a proposition
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Changing environment (other group project
management)
Think ahead of what you want to achieve and
need to do in all the phases
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Coffee time!
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Lemonade
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Be back within 15 minutes
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The rolling stones - satisfaction
Definition:
“Two-way process of reaching mutual
understanding, in which participants not only
exchange information but also create and
share meaning.”
- www.businessdictionary.com
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Different ways of communications
Definition:
“Degree of intensity of interest that a client
shows for a certain product in a particular
decision.”
Van Dale
“The level of participation of the client in the
design process”
Group interpretation
Definition:
“The power to effect and control something
or some-one” –
Wikipedia
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Find your table and sit in your team
Read the instructions
10 minutes preparation
Start to communicate and involve client
(10minutes)
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We will brief the client group separately
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Afterwards a group discussion
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Client personas
◦ Different functions (boss, sales)
◦ Personality
◦ Experience
◦ Is the client satisfied?
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Evaluation & discussion
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What went well?
How did you involve the client(s)?
How did you communicate?
How many concepts did you show and why?
Persons you probably will encounter
 Director
 Sales person
 Financial person
 Technical person
 Secretary
Dummy vs. experts!
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How you communicate depends
◦ Always face to face meetings necessary
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Where you meet makes sense
With who you speak depends
◦ Enough knowledge and data
◦ Understanding in design team
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Feel what your client wants
◦ Have enough contact to establish a relationship
◦ Ease your client
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Involvement in product and process
◦ It can make your client enthusiastic for the result
◦ It shows your effort and work load
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Take the lead to ensure the client is involved!
“High involvement is often preferred because the more the
client feels he is responsible for the product he can become
satisfied all the sooner.”
Jurre G
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Make decisions on decisions
◦ Make clear in the beginning of the process what the
client’s role will be
◦ Do not show everything and keep a last trump
◦ Choose only concepts you support and assist the
client in a certain direction
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Keep control
◦ “The client’s level of influence has to be limited in
order to keep control of the process” Regine Vroom
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Coffee time!
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Lemonade & cookies!
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Be back within 15 minutes
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Benni Benassi - Satisfaction
Definition:
“an existing connection; a significant
association between or among things.
www.dictionary.com
“The way client and designer interact with
each other over a period of time”
Definition:
“the state of being satisfied; contentment.”
www.dictionary.com
“The level of contentment of the client about
the designer/design team and the end result”
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Internal vs external relations
◦ 3 examples
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Different parties
◦ takes more time, more money, more
communication. There are different interest
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Relations
◦ longterm, trusting each other, networking
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End result
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Quality of the result
Doing more then necessary, just to please
Trust in you as a designer
Product launch/event
Evaluation
◦ Meeting/conversation/’feeling’
◦ Redesign/new design project
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Satisfaction=
the sum of the end result + the process
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“Sales people -> headache
Director -> details
Engineers -> all the problems”
Leo Warttenbergh
“There are two types of clients: good clients
and amateurs, inventors with a pocket full of
money”.
Henk Crone
“The director enjoyed the development phase.
It was a kind of hobby”
Leo Wartenbergh
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A good design brief is entirely defined on
paper
“Usually the client does not have a written design brief. During the
first meeting you try to determine what the client really wants, even
if he doesn’t know himself.” Henk Crone
“During the first meeting you explore the client’s problem by asking
the right questions. If you picture yourself in his situation, things
will work out. If you have empathy towards the client you’ll
understand his problem.” Stefan vd Geer
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Giving your client a lot of influence always
results in good interaction between client and
design team
“Sometimes you have made a hell of a lot of concepts and your client
picks the ugliest design. If you cannot persuade him to choose
another concept, it is always the client who has the final word.”
Sebastiaan vd Elshout
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“With too much freedom of choice you will stimulate the client’s
creativity.” Regine Vroom
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Maximum client satisfaction is reached by a
good end result rather then a good process
“The process is important in the interest of the end result”
Max vd Laan
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“This world really is about relations” Henk Crone
“In order to get the payment, you have to be sure the client is
satisfied. This means that sometimes you have to worship your
client” Stefan vd Geer
“The presentations during the milestones is exactly what determines
your client satisfaction” Henk Crone
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Design brief
Design process
Communication
Influence
Involvement
Client-Designer relations
Client satisfaction
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Personas
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What, do you think is most important in
satisfying your client?
Please write down your own quote down on
the provided peace of paper. Put your name
at the end.
You will see your quotes back on the wiki!
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How to reach maximum client satisfaction?
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Recommendations
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Define your own way of working
Define the clients way of working
Be sure to start of with good agreements
Communicate clearly and be honest
Give your client ‘some’ influence and involve him
Do everything to satisfy your client
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Applause for youself
Shoulderpet for yourself
Are you satisfied about the session?