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Ask HN: Manipulating a client into making the right design decision

5 points by lyudmil ↗ HN
Dear HN,

I'm in a predicament with a client and I feel your advice would be very valuable.

I'm in my final year of a master's program. As a part of my final thesis, I'm doing an internship with a media and advertising start-up, helping them develop an Android application. We are close to releasing a preliminary version, so we're at the stage where we're working very hard on the design.

Unfortunately, the client insists on using a specific font (Distemper, to be precise), because they feel the handwritten look fits well with the app's functionality. However, this font is unreadable at the sizes that are sensible for mobile apps. It is also italicized, which means that any component that relies on horizontally centered text (e.g. buttons) needs to be tweaked because the text doesn't actually look centered, even though it is. Worse, it looks bad. On top of that, using a custom font in Android isn't trivial technically and it does impact the code more than I'd like it to.

I've raised some of my concerns already (casually), but I haven't been able to shake my client's confidence in their decision. They take my criticisms on board, but also feel like this isn't within my main competency, so my opinion doesn't carry much weight. I think the app's functionality and looks are severely crippled by the decision, maybe to a point where I wouldn't feel comfortable putting it on my resume.

My current strategy is to give them what they want and wait for them to realize it isn't working, but things don't seem to be going my way.

Do you have any suggestions as to how to both convince them to choose a different font and, if possible, to have them think it was their idea? When, if ever, would it be time for me to be frank about how big of a mistake I think we're making? Thanks in advance.

7 comments

[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 26.5 ms ] thread
solost
I think you are taking the wrong approach. You don’t want to manipulate the people you are working for you. Instead you want to educate them. I think the easiest and most direct route you could take is to prepare mockups using the font they want at the size it would be on a mobile device and the font you suggest.

Then encourage them to get feedback from family and friends. Chances are if your assessment is correct then your client will get the feedback not only from you but from others whom opinions they respect. In the end this is about all you can do.

Having clients means often having to do your best within the parameters that they set for you. They are the ones paying and you are the one working after all.

The other thing that is very concerning in your post is that you think this one issue is so bad that you don’t want to be associated with it. The truth is that this is going to happen over and over again in your career and you are going to need to learn to make the best of it.

Nothing says you can’t be associated with a project and also discuss, on your resume or web site, how if you were allowed to make the decisions you would have done things differently. I think if you take this approach you can gain credibility with future customers so that it might make it easier for your opinion to count more.

Distancing yourself from too many projects in the long run will make you appear inexperienced and eventually may damage your reputation much more than being associated with a project you are not completely happy with.

Best of luck to you.

lyudmil
Thank you for your reply. It helped me grasp my feelings personally and gave me some great ideas. I'd like to give a quick response to some of your points.

To your point on manipulation: I agree and I'm using the word "manipulate" a little cynically here. What I used it to mean is a frictionless way to convince my client.

Regarding educating: I agree again, but I suppose a good portion of my question boils down to how to put myself in a position to educate, given that my client feels design isn't something I ought to have much of an opinion about. I fear that trying to educate without first having overcome that will lose me a lot of political capital.

On finding alternatives and gathering feedback: Great suggestion. I'll definitely do that, thanks.

On working within the client-defined parameters: I try to stay aware of that. As I pointed out in my post, I'm going along with their decision and changing the font without making a fuss. I still would like to find the limits of those parameters.

On disassociating myself: I regret that's the way it came across because it isn't how I feel. I never considered walking away - I'll definitely finish the project. My comment with regards to putting it on my resume was more related to my skepticism about how much professional benefit I might receive from the project once I'm done with it if things aren't done right.

Thanks again for your reply. It helped in more ways than one.

kerryfalk
I think you may have missed what solost meant regarding disassociating yourself form the product. I took it to mean:

  This isn't mine therefore I don't care that much about it.
Rather than:

  I'm going to cut loose and walk away from this.
Disassociating yourself from your work (My understanding mentioned above) can be viewed as immature and unprofessional and that's what solost was saying, I believe. We've all done work that we're not happy with but there's a big difference between acknowledging the parts that we don't like and trying to disassociate ourselves from the work entirely.
matdwyer
Agree with Solost, go get some user feedback - walk up to a random person, show them the app, and ask them for feedback on the design. If it is as hard and unappealing as you say, the person will say that, and they can hear it from a direct source rather than you.

You might also get some good advice on other aspects of the design while you do it...

dreamdu5t
Welcome to the rest of your career.

I use the "divide and conquer" strategy. I look for others who have similar management authority and get them to see a mock of what I'm suggesting. If they won't listen to you, they will often listen to someone else.

LarryA
ohhh, I just looked up the font, that is a challenge...

Don't call it a design issue, call it a technical or usability issue, show "technically" this font would not be good, see how it relates to menus, accents, etc. Illustrate the problems with menus, etc. and how you would have to have custom code for all this, in comparison to a non italic font.

A mock up helps, generate a comparison with standard fonts at real-world resolutions.

Thirdly, you should try to share their enthusiasm, grab some of their other materials and see what their standard designs have to offer that you could implement, then approach them and say "you know if I implemented this alternate font, color scheme, theme, or logo we could create an effect that better ties this into your business."

[dead] LarryA
ohhh, I just looked up the font, that is a challenge...

Don't call it a design issue, call it a technical or usability issue, show "technically" this font would not be good, see how it relates to menus, accents, etc. Illustrate the problems with menus, etc. and how you would have to have custom code for all this, in comparison to a non italic font.

A mock up helps, generate a comparison with standard fonts at real-world resolutions.

Thirdly, you should try to share their enthusiasm, grab some of their other materials and see what their standard designs have to offer that you could implement, then approach them and say "you know if I implemented this alternate font, color scheme, theme, or logo we could create an effect that better ties this into your business."