Show the wrong design as early as possible
I’ve developed a design method I call showing the wrong thing as soon as possible. The idea is this: When I start a new project for a client, I have an initial meeting with them where I hear their idea. I then go off and design the first thing that comes to my mind that fits their need. It’s often not polished and not the right solution, but it represents a complete and concrete idea in higher fidelity. I then hurry to get the design in front of the client. What happens next is always the same, the client rips it to shreds. And that’s exactly what I want them to do.
Humans are very skilled at noticing differences, it’s how our brain is engineered. So when I’m showing a client something wrong, what happens is their brain freaks out about all the differences between what they are seeing in my design with what they are seeing in their head. So the client’s feedback starts flowing like a river as they describe all the problems they see with the design. I quietly write down everything I hear, encouraging them to talk as long and as harshly as they need to. I take none of it personally.
This is how I am able to read my client’s mind faster than any other methods I’ve tried, by forcing their brain to point out all the flaws. With all those flaws verbalized I can now easily go back and design the right picture based on the negative space left behind by the wrong picture.
