Solving design problems through sketching

WHO IS DOING THE DESIGN?

Since I started designing, I have worked with many companies and clients. In the past, when my designs required revisions during the presentation stage, it would cause a significant loss of morale and time. It puts one to a great test. Somehow, the design work finishes, but then, through the client's feedback (which can sometimes be very harsh), the design is reshaped, and sometimes the resulting work didn't look like anything good at all. When the job was done, it wasn't a design I could call my own, but a piece of work that was exactly what the client wanted, lacking vision and going nowhere design-wise.

There are very good examples on the site below. Do you think the people who did these jobs are designers? Or the clients? http://www.badturkishgraphics.com/

Problems I experienced

Over the years, I wasn't the only one who faced this problem. I saw that the fate of designers around me was generally the same. In my opinion, the jokes we make among ourselves like "Let's move the text one nudge down, let's make the logo a bit bigger" are directly related to this issue. As long as you don't make an effort to find the source of the problem and solve it, it will always be like this.

The client's demand is generally to see a visually full design that highlights their work or product. The designer's design, on the other hand, is a job prepared with their own knowledge, unique lines, and more thought put into it with the aim of being able to include it in their references. Consequently, the work the client expects and the work the designer produces are different from each other.

Adventure of an advertisement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0pif2nGfzc

In this case, the one who needs to work harder to find the middle ground is, of course, the designer (though the client also loses a lot of time in their own way). The client who pays will eventually get the job. But the designer starts to lose money because they cannot take on other work during that time.

The psychology behind the work

As a result, the designer is neither satisfied with the work they did nor can they tell those around them that they did it. Since the motivation for the work is money, the designer convinces themselves that they are doing the right thing to avoid losing it, and turns the design into an inextricable mess with the feedback coming from the client.

This is like a dead-end street. Here, the designer becomes a tool—more like a paid instrument than a professional whose competence is valued. In short, they let the client use them in exchange for money. Of course, I can't say it's always like this. Today, many successful designers with vision elevate their clients and companies with the products they release.

So, how do they do it? What is the right approach? What process would a designer who produces such work follow? The working styles of Tahir Yüksel and Rıza Selçuk Saydam would be good examples.

I kept the introduction a bit broad, but I want to briefly summarize the intro. If we don't know the reason for this, we cannot see what kind of effect the result creates.

The wrong way usually followed currently: Job description > Design > Client Revisions > Bad Design Result: Loss of time, Bad design, Unhappy designer, Satisfied client.

The way it should be: Job description > Detailing the job > Creating a sketch > Client Revisions > Good Design Result: Saving time, Good design, Happy designer, Satisfied client.

There may be more than one way to make a dish delicious. Some recipes lead to happiness and pleasure, while some lead to cooking dishes that are tasteless, look bad, and cause regret. Our "recipe" will lead to a design that is both easy to execute and guaranteed to yield results.

Recipes will be replaced by better ones as time progresses; this process is always evolving. Throughout history, all artists have produced their work using such methods. No one can produce quality products by just picking up colored pencils and painting from top to bottom. There is always a sketch underneath quality work. Perhaps as time progresses, I might be on a completely different path than the one I follow below.

A work process without a sketch :)

How do I proceed to move correctly in the design process?

• The job is taken from the client or the project is given to me at the company. Somehow, I have the job.
• While defining the job, I learn what this product will do.
• I ask questions to determine what will be in the design. What will be in the menus, what are the texts, what kind of pictures. I take my notes.
• I check my notes with the client again to make final decisions on the elements to be included.
• I start sketching. I take a blank A4 sheet and do the drawings by hand in a very short time.
• During the production stage, drawing something by hand is the most useful method for ideas from the mind to flow onto the paper.
• Later, I make adjustments based on these drawings until I agree with the client.
• Then, I redo the sketch drawings at the WireFrame/Mockup level in a digital environment. Working on the computer to make arrangements saves a lot of time.
• In short: first draw the rough sketch on paper and find the truth there. Then, transfer the paper draft to the computer and look at how alternative layouts look. Sometimes there is no need for alternatives; you just say, "This is it."
• I also set the fonts and necessary adjustments here. While designing, I only look at whether it's compatible and review my decisions again.
• Sometimes in the mockup stage, I use the actual texts instead of placeholder "lorem ipsum." This is a great contribution to the design stage.
• I make final evaluations and revisions on the mockup with the client. My suggestion: if you are going to meet the client, take your laptop or draw the mockup online so you can show it right there.
• Believe that the work is now correct on the mockup yourself; if necessary, fight and struggle for it. If you don't struggle, it will be even more difficult to convey what they want in the design.
• Get feedback from those around you (User Tests) until you are sure that the mockup is applicable and won't be problematic for the user.
• After ensuring it's approved by the client, you can move on to the design stage.
• This work method saves you from designing over and over again. It is clean and simple.
• I design by staying faithful to the mockup, and here I let my creativity take flight. I also know where I need to focus. I say, "Now it's time to show off my talents."
• I know that the work I do will remain faithful and very close to the mockup. But it never has to be exactly the same.
• The job approaches the end as the design is presented to the client, the visual effect is applied, and final comments are taken. If necessary, I make final revisions.
• Here, the client no longer says "let the menu be on the left and the texts on the right," because when the sketches were drawn, this was already decided. They approved it. Decisions aren't easily reversed. If the previous decision wasn't right, why was it made?
• Decisions that force the design process to restart from the beginning no longer come at the last minute.
• Since the "let's try the logo on the right" part is done on paper and mockup, there is no need to try these in the final design anymore.
• Result: SUCCESSFUL JOB, happy designer, happy client. Saving time and money.

This is how my method works. Of course, since I now do my own projects, I am both the client and the boss. But still, the process does not change. I do not start the final design without getting comments from friends and people whose design instincts I trust during the sketch and mockup phase.

Success in design is hidden here, in my opinion.

Links

I usually use this site because it is online. https://moqups.com/

Try sharing the sketches with the team after drawing them: http://www.invisionapp.com/

One of the oldest tools for mockups: http://balsamiq.com/

Designs