As designers, often we get challenged to think outside our own skin and feel the design in a different way. Sometimes the client is just right. One always likes to think that they are so thorough and complete in their research that we cannot be second guessed into another decision. And sometimes we are wrong. I get remined everyday that the process of design and good decision making lies in our process, but also in the process that our client can grasp and accept. Sometimes it just takes longer. Sometimes it keeps getting better.
I think that some clients "see" their space better than we ever will. We can lead them, but they have to move at their own pace, and reach their decisions with a comfort zone that they understand. I once had a client that told me that he "wanted to see every option". We spent two months choosing textiles, and color schemes for a very important floor of his building. At the time, I felt frustration, an overwhelming sense that time was being wasted, and an enormous amount of money was being spent on a riduculous exercise. Later, as the building came together, I realized that even though he did go back to all of my suggestions, he was just going through his own process of acceptance. He seemed to be a scientist eliminating combinations that could not work. He had to do this. He was happy to spend design dollars doing it, and who was I to judge? So when a client inserts their own form of decision making into a project and slows it down to a crawl, now I smile. The results do not usually change much. But the satisfaction of a client of this type, is amazing. They are suddenly comfortable with your approach and much more reasonable through the rest of the project. They kind of have a slow buy in and need to be involved with details to develope a trust for our talents and our perspective.
Later, it has always been worth it.
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