Comments on: Managing mock-ups

By: Antilogic Media - Design, Technology, SEO, Online Marketing and more… :: Antilogic Media

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:01:08 +0000

[...] after you present the design, such as the ones Verne Ho of Creating Briefing and many others, have experienced [...]

By: 9 Of The Best Ways To Present A Website To A Client | Rainer's Blog

9 Of The Best Ways To Present A Website To A Client | Rainer's Blog — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:20:01 +0000

[...] after you present the design, such as the ones Verne Ho of Creating Briefing and many others, have experienced [...]

By: 9 of The Best Ways To Present A Website To Clients

9 of The Best Ways To Present A Website To Clients — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:53:54 +0000

[...] after you present the design, such as the ones Verne Ho of Creating Briefing and many others, have experienced [...]

By: RBeezy

RBeezy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:36:06 +0000

Verne, I think it’s up to clients to understand what’s going on. A mockup is a facade, it’s not supposed to be the actual thing. If it’s the actual thing, it’s a website. I prefer to “smart-it-up” rather than dumb-it-down for clients. We as designers have to do our homework to understand their history, present and future needs. Why shouldn’t clients have to take a crash course in the language of design?

It suits their purpose to know their site intimately, that’s the best way for them to finetune their online presence.

I’m not saying that clients should run around barking hexadecimal colours but they need to get their heads around what a mockup truly is.

And while we’re on the subject, when’s the last time a designer did a true mockup? Wireframes and thumbnails are what I find truly baffles clients, leaving them in a Scooby-Doo state (Arooo?).

By: Niki Brown

Niki Brown — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:39:25 +0000

I put the jpeg mockup into the background of a webpage and have the design centered and no-repeat. solves that problem!

By: When Is A Mockup No Longer A Mockup? | Freelancing Online and Blogging Tips from Pro Freelance Blogger

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:32:11 +0000

[...] read a post from Verne Ho at Creative Briefing a few weeks ago in relation to managing mockups. Depending on the client, and the delivery (am I [...]

By: Renata

Renata — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:03:57 +0000

It depends on the client, I think. A tech-savvy client should get a mock up they can play around with. A non-tech-savvy (aka more troublesome) one should get a picture, with a letter that in big, read, CAPITAL letters says “THIS IS A PICTURE”.

I have a web design client who is a painter. He is about 65 years old, and doesn’t speak English. He used to have requests like “Can we make this a warmer shade of gray?” and “Can you make the snow in this photo whiter? It’s not white enough.” You can train them, as long as you speak with authority, to understand basic things like “There are 256 Web colors. That’s it. Pick out of these.”

By: C Guilherme Fraenkeç

C Guilherme Fraenkeç — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:16:08 +0000

I think that´s a common problem that occurs with webdesign, but also with other fields of knowledge such as architecture and engeneering.
As a engeneering student that became a TI professional focused in web I use different models to develop the various parts of the work.
Try to construct the navigation of the site first. Use wireframes (pure HTML elements without design) to help your client understand how the elements will work in each page.
Once the understanding of the navigation and the behavior of the elements in each page is achieved it will be easier to move attention to the design.

By: Zinni

Zinni — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:40:33 +0000

This is why a lot of the time I will send the client a print out of the designs mounted. What you are sending is just a flat representation of what the site will be anyways, so displaying it on a print out is acceptable. Often this extra step also helps reinforce that what you are doing takes time, often times uneducated clients who do not understand that that you are showing them a concept also do not understand the time that goes into designing a websites. The printed mock-up that has been mounted also helps to position your services as a sophisticated process.

I have had one client who reacted poorly to the printed mock-up however I wrote it off as ignorance and I will stick behind that assumption. This particular client took a very harsh reaction that I felt was in no way rational. I just thought it was worth mentioning as some clients still don’t get the process no matter what you do.

By: Verne

Verne — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:49:34 +0000

@Allan - I’ve tried ConceptShare before and it’s a great tool. However, the problem is that if I’m dealing with a client that doesn’t fully understand the idea of a flat static image representing their site design, then chances are something like ConceptShare would be slightly too complicated for them as well.

@Melek - I’ve definitely been in your shoes before. I used to make the mock-up into a mock website by adding the background, but I found that it further confused some clients into thinking it was a real website. But I totally feel your pain on the story you shared - the perception of non-tech-savvy people on technology can totally blow my mind sometimes too!

Thanks for sharing thus far! :)