Coping with design by committee without pulling your hair out

In an ideal world as a designer you’d only ever have one client, in reality you probably have more. Design by committee can be a hellish situation for any designer, but there are various things you can do to make sure the process is easier.

Design by committee?

Design by committee is where you have more than the usual single client, it usually refers to numerous people having input over the design process and dealing with those varying and multiple opinions on what the design should be. Design by committee can all too often become a ‘too many cooks’ situation where spoons are a rare commodity. Loosely applied most projects probably are to an extent design by committee as often a client will show it to other people or it’s a company where you may have a single point of contact but numerous departments and people will input into a situation. What I’m referring to are situations where there is no clear single point of contact and you’re dealing with numerous voices whilst trying to come up with a comprehensive design.

Lay strong foundations

Before you even start to design there are a number of things you can do to ensure that all voices are heard from the start and they are not all shouting at once. These methods are all designed to narrow the field and create a focus from the start for the project.

• Have a design question form: I use Wufoo with a set series of questions that I always hand out to all clients. Some example questions I include are what colours they would like and what styles they like. I make sure to have ‘like’ and ‘don’t like’ for every question asked – often the don’t like are more telling than the like responses.
• Offer examples: Along with the form I make sure that I also include some examples of websites or whatever design work I am doing. This allows a starting point for what the clients like or don’t like and I have a space on the wufoo form for responses to this.
• Factor time in for revisions: Make sure you lay down from the start how many revisions are included in the price and stick to it. If you are going to give endless revisions you will end up with an endless headache. It’s often a good idea to state an hourly or additional cost for revisions over the set figure just incase.
• Get design sign offs: One of the most important things is to get the design signed off to avoid changes during the development of the work. Sign offs should be as final as you can make them. Don’t be afraid to charge for changes after a sign off.
• Try and create a point of contact: If possible try and find a point of contact amongst the voices. This isn’t always possible, but usually one chief ‘cook’ stands out who can be your point of contact.

Flexibility doesn’t mean being taken advantage of

Whilst as a designer you have to be flexible in your client responses you have to juggle this with endless revisions and projects spiralling out of control beyond the original design concept. Try not to loose sight of the fact that you are the designer and you are meant to filter and apply the client needs not respond to every request. I don’t say this in a ‘designers know best’ mind set, I say this in the sense you are being hired as a designer and based on your experience you should advise and guide the project. Trust your instincts and experience, if something is not going to work don’t be afraid to say this.

Become a filter: Listen but don’t act to everything

One of the key points to managing with design by committee is by being a filter to requests. You will probably have a list longer than a family weekly shopping list of things that people want, like and don’t like during the process. It may sound harsh but in situations where it you are faced with design by committee you will simply be unable to act to everything they are asking for. I’ve said it before but you are being hired as the designer so you should use your experience to interpret and filter requests. Consider each one individually and use your skills to decide whether they should be implemented.

Take time and don’t get swamped

Above all design by committee should be met with a calm frame of mind and patience. It’s a hard process and in an ideal world you would not be experiencing it, things aren’t always ideal though. By laying down a few ground rules and processes though you can sort the noise out and focus the project from the start to get a better end result.