Client work can be incredibly fulfilling. The perk of agency work is the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with a variety of people. Work is fresh and interesting. I have no idea what challenge I might be working on next month, and I love that.

I get to work with smart people from diverse industries and backgrounds. I’ve worked with enterprise CEOs and Ukrainian developers. I’ve worked with models, electricians, firemen, and marketers.

I’ve often heard designers (and while I refer to designers, this applies to developers and anyone else who works with clients) say they left the agency world because they didn’t like working with clients.

I think they are missing out. I think designers who leave because of clients may find similar problems wherever they move to. (Note that isn’t a blanket statement—for some people agency work really isn’t for them).

Learning to work with clients is a critical skill, and when developed, leads to a much happier and fulfilling career.

Be Emphatic to Clients Too

One of the most important traits of a designer is empathy. A designer needs to put themselves in the shoes of a user. Often though, this empathy is only pointed toward the user, when the client is equally deserving.

Rarely are clients “difficult” because they want to make the designer’s life hard. Here’s what may actually be going on:

They don’t understand the process

They’re feeling pressure from stakeholders

Their expectations are different from yours

The next time a client is difficult, do what you do with users—see the project through their eyes.

When clients are upset it almost always has to do with communication rather than quality of work (in my experience, at least). It’s the designer’s responsibility to set expectations, teach the process, and keep the client updated.

Even if a client is difficult to work with for the wrong reasons, being empathetic can go a long way toward making your relationship better. Maybe they’re being unreasonable, but understanding it’s because of enormous pressure from their boss soothes the pain.

It’s rarely personal.

Establish Trust

Projects can go South quickly when a client loses trust in the designer. While a designer should be open-minded, if they disagree, they need to express that in a clear, persuasive way.

I’ve seen this happen in projects: a client wants something in a design. The designer disagrees and either stays silent or does not effectively make his or her case. The designer does what the client wants. The designer doesn’t like the design choice and loses passion for the project. The designer becomes reactive, making choices only to please the client and not for what is best for the project. The client loses trust in the designer and the end result is sub-par.

Designers are hired for their expertise and a part of their job is to give strong reasoning for their design decisions. This builds trust and results in a healthier, happier relationship.

This confidence in ability should be tempered by a hearty dose of humility.

Be Humble

Sometimes, as a designer, I’m wrong. Despite my experience and passion, sometimes the client knows better than I do. Just because someone isn’t a designer as their title doesn’t mean they don’t have valuable input. A CEO designs the operations of a company. The CFO designs the financial systems. A very cool part of a designers job is that we get to work with a lot of really smart people.

But in a lot of cases, we do have more experience. When you feel strongly about something, say so, but show appreciation and consideration for input. Circling back to empathy, if you were to give a bad idea to an expert of another field, how would you want them to respond?

We’ve learned an important lesson: if a client asks for a red button when it clearly should be blue, show them the red version first. Then show them the blue version and make your case for why it is better.

And when the client is right, be quick to acknowledge and appreciate. Most design projects are a collaboration, and in the end, it’s the final result that matters, not who thought of what first.

Pick Your Battles

More often, it’s not a black and white issue of who is right between the designer and the client. There is a lot of give and take and both parties should be trusting and flexible.

While a designer should strive to create the best possible end-result, projects have constraints. An animation designed in After Effects does not always translate to code within budgets and timeframes. Designers that work with developers are used to these discussions.

The same relationship exists between a designer and a client. A designer is constantly juggling priorities while designing–choosing how much space an element deserves on a page for example. Picking your battles and making the right concessions will make you and your clients much happier.

Be Sincere

A good way to establish trust and win battles is to be sincere. Show your enthusiasm for the project and make sure your client knows you’re invested. When battling for a design decision, be clear that this is what you think is best for the project, not what is best for you.

When a stakeholder knows you’re making design decisions as if you were a stakeholder, their trust will increase.

Manage Expectations

Clear communication would solve almost every problem I’ve ever experience with clients. It’s almost always a matter of the client expecting X but getting Y. A designer’s job includes:

Managing timeline expectations (this takes experience). Your life and their life will be so much less stressful if you give realistic expectations about timeframes. It’s much better to say “that’s not possible within the timeframe” than tell them a week before that you’re not going to finish in time.

Managing scope expectations

Teaching about each step of the design process (before it happens)

Defending design decisions

Keeping the client updated throughout the process, not just at the start and end.

Final Thoughts

When all is said and done, even the most understanding, humble, trustworthy, and experienced designers will run into issues with clients. Such is life. People are not always easy to work with, and that is in no way unique to our industry (yes, even with designers working for a product company). And even the projects with truly difficult clients eventually end.

It’s helpful to remember how lucky we are. We get paid to do something we love. We work in an exciting field. We get a variety of projects with a variety of smart people. We get to work in a comfortable work environment. If my biggest stress is that a client won’t budge on making a button blue, I’ll gladly take it.