Today, no online company can do without web design. And the services of a graphic designer are becoming more and more in demand among representatives of large, medium, and small businesses.
Project presentation to the client is an extremely significant and crucial moment in any graphic designer and creative person's life. With a well-prepared project presentation, you can make a good deal, increase profits and get a regular client, or you can lose your customer and ruin your reputation, even if the project itself is well done.
A worthwhile presentation of your design project is half of your success. If you're engaged in web design, your work is at the final stage, but you don't know how to present it to the client, this article is for you. Whether you work in a team or as a freelancer, our tips will help you design a successful project plan. Let's get started.
1. Know Your Customer
First, you need to know who your client is. During communication and fulfillment of the order, you will have already understood a little what kind of person your client is and what way of communication to choose — even if you don't know anything about human nature.
You must understand that the audience (you can present the project to several people at once) isn't just waiting for a ready-made result. They're waiting for its demonstration. This ‘show' isn't included in the contract. However, a good website or graphic design project presentation is the right step toward success. And the ability to present the information correctly won't hurt you and your career at all.
It's also worth considering that customers are people too, and sometimes they have a bad mood. Be prepared for this and try to remain calm and composure. Your UX design is perfect, and you still have to protect it in front of a critical audience. Just stand your ground!
2. Introduction
Usually, we're impatient to immediately show the work to the client and wait for feedback. But if the clients don't understand anything about web design or your field of activity, they won't be able to evaluate the work correctly. They will send edits, and their feedback will be such as “like-dislike”.
For the customer to evaluate the project in the right way, name the main goals and objectives, and describe the competitive environment in which your design project will exist. All these can be told briefly at the very beginning and fit on one slide of your project presentation, made in some app such as Slidebean.
It will help to remember why the project was started and finished at all. The customer most likely won't offer to introduce additional functionality or add details that don't fulfill the goals and weren't originally planned.
3. Present The Project In Person
Remember, the best option is always to present your design project in person. Of course, if the graphic designer and the client are in different countries, then this is unrealistic. However, modern technologies like video calling software come to the rescue.
Why is it worth presenting the project in person? The fact is that when sending a project by email, the customer will have a lot of time to write a detailed review. As a contractor, you're better off getting instant feedback so you can clarify things the client doesn't understand. For instance, you can create a short video presentation of the project in an editor such as Movavi Video Editor or Shotcut and show/send it to the client directly during the conversation. This way, you will have the opportunity to showcase the strengths of your design project online.
Moreover, your design project presentation should be demonstrated to the person who makes the final decision. This point is sometimes extremely hard to implement, but it's quite successful. It doesn't make sense to give a good presentation to a middle manager or non-decision maker.
4. Project Presentation
The client always wants to know where the money was spent, how exactly it happened, and why the basic elements of UX design are placed in this way and not in any other one. Moreover, why did the graphic designer choose that color scheme?
Briefly describe the main idea of your work and design solutions, and the reason you made this decision. It can usually be stated in a few sentences. Mention the advantages of your solution — how it helps the business attract new customers, take the company to a new level, or overtake the competition.
5. Data Visualization
Everyone knows that visual information is perceived much better than text. If you want the client to understand exactly how much time and money were spent, add a few infographics to your project presentation. To do this, use infographic makers such as Infogram — that will be enough.
To make the customer understand that you have done a great job and offered the best result, show the intermediate steps. Demonstrate what other options and ideas you had, and showcase the sketches and drafts you have come up with and created before achieving the final result. If you have time and this method of presentation suits you best, then the design process can be recorded by screen recording software and shown as a short video presentation.
6. Get Ready To Protect Your Project
You can't please everyone even if you have done the perfect UX design and thoughtful project presentation. If the customer requires edits and revisions that worsen the result, be sure to give clear arguments. Try to put yourself in your client's place and think over how these changes interfere with business goals.
It's much easier to present web design in this format and insist on keeping the elements, colors, and illustrations in their original state. Also, it's better to be friendly and polite during project presentations, showing the customer as many crucial details of the work as possible. It's always nice to know that money is well spent.
Wrapping Up
So, we have given you a few key points that you should pay attention to when preparing and conducting a project presentation — whether it's an ordinary presentation with slides in front of an audience or an online video presentation.
Remember that it's not necessary to tell the customer the entire process history of the project. However, the client prefers to understand how certain your ideas are and how the designer decided to set accents. They want to know why new illustrations and elements appeared in the UX design of the site for an online store, and where the minor difference from the original technical task came from. Be ready for revisions and always perform your work well.
We wish you all the best and always go all the way and achieve your goals!
