The Bandaid Solution
Designers always hate doing band-aid solutions, but why do we feel like we need to replace the entire hand, wrist, and arm, when the best solution is a band aid?
If a client comes in needing a website, we’re quick to point out how they need a complete corporate identity overhaul. Sometimes we are blinded, and are unable to notice those simple “band aid” solutions that will give the client the best solution for their dollar. We like the glamorous projects. Total arm replacement is much more romantic than putting a band-aid on a cut finger.
Think about it. Sometimes very little changes and adjustments can make a huge difference. What if a client is loosing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in sales because their website visitors can’t find the “confirm order” button on their website?
Of course, we want to re-design their website. It always seems to be in our best interest to do the larger project. There’s more creative challenge, more fresh graphics, more clever headlines, and even more money. The problem is that it is not always in our clients’ best interest.
The hitch here, is that it really does take a designer’s experience and expertise to find those little things that need band-aid fixes. If our clients knew how to fix them, they wouldn’t come to us, would they?
The other thing to remember is that the big (arm replacement) projects will come along, and we’ve proven our worth and abilities on the band-aid fixes, our clients will be more willing to pay us even bigger bucks when they do need a new arm.
