The problem with design services

In this salon, we’ll discuss one of the most sticky issues our industry faces: delivering the design solutions we think are appropriate to clients and managers who disagree, don’t want to invest the appripriate level of resources, or simply don’t understand the difference between good enough design and great design.

 
I don’t have the answers but I have a lot of questions, like:

• Why is it so hard to explain the value of design, and why do we have to spend so much time “educating” our clients and managers?
• How do agencies stay profitable when designers would rather eat hours than send a poorly designed product into the world?
• Are we too focused on the experience of our clients’ users and not focused enough on the experience of clients themselves (i.e., our users)?
• Are we in the business of designing products or of providing design services?
• What makes design services different from other services?
• Are there things we can learn from other service industries?
• What do clients, stakeholders, and managers want anyway, and can we design a service to ensure their satisfaction?
• If we provide better service, can we earn the trust and loyalty that will allow us to do higher quality work?

If you are a running a creative agency or just work at one, if you hope to become a UX consultant one day, or if you are in-house and fighting the uphill quality battle within your own company -- this salon is for you.

I have a short presentation to get the topic rolling, then we’ll open the room up for discussion and brainstorming (and maybe even gamestorming). My hope is to arrive at some common quality themes and ideas for bridging the gap between the work we want to do and the work we get paid to do.