“We just need it to look more professional…”

“我们只需要看起来更专业...”

“We don’t have the graphic expertise you do…”

“我们没有您所需要的图形专业知识……”

“I just don’t know how to make it look good…”

“我只是不知道如何使它看起来不错……”

Ah, familiar client quotes for a new design project. They all distill down to a single request: Make it pretty. The client has already decided what they want in a deliverable and they just need someone to make it more visually appealing.

嗯，熟悉的客户对一个新设计项目的报价。 他们都提炼出一个要求： 使其变得漂亮 。 客户已经确定了他们想要的交付成果，他们只需要一个人就可以使它更具视觉吸引力。

When a project team limits a designer’s involvement to the very end, they will miss the invaluable contributions designers can make in all parts of the process.

当项目团队将设计师的参与限制到最后时，他们将错过设计师在过程的所有部分中可以做出的宝贵贡献。

It’s true that many designers have an eye for aesthetics and are quite good at producing attractive visual designs. But when a client team limits a designer’s involvement to the very end, they will miss the invaluable contributions designers can make in all parts of the process.

的确，许多设计师都注重美学，并且擅长制作有吸引力的视觉设计。 但是，当客户团队将设计师的参与限制到最后时，他们会错过设计师在整个过程中可以做出的宝贵贡献。

At Michigan Medicine, my design and innovation team has come across a number of these small requests for visual styling. We often reject them.

在密歇根医学学院，我的设计和创新团队遇到了许多有关视觉样式的小要求。 我们经常拒绝他们。

We’ve started to take these requests as opportunities; opportunities to educate our clients and evangelize the multifaceted and comprehensive work human-centered designers do.

我们已经开始将这些要求视为机遇。 有机会教育我们的客户并宣传以人为本的设计师所做的多方面和全面的工作。

But recently, instead of saying no, we’ve learned how to yes — but on our own terms. We’ve started to take these requests as opportunities; opportunities to educate our clients and evangelize the multifaceted and comprehensive work human-centered designers do.

但是最近，我们已经学会了如何做，而不是拒绝，而是按照我们自己的意愿。 我们已经开始将这些要求视为机遇。 有机会教育我们的客户并宣传以人为本的设计师所做的多方面和全面的工作。

We’ve come up with five key principles to follow as we show these clients that designers have more to offer than just a pretty facade.

当我们向这些客户展示设计师提供的不仅仅是漂亮的外观时，我们提出了五个关键原则。

原则1：不要安定下来。 (Principle #1: Don’t settle.)

Fight for design to have a voice during every part of the process.

争取设计，以便在流程的每个部分都有发言权。

Just because popular culture often portrays designers as the people who add aesthetic adornments to things once the ‘thing’ is already figured out, it doesn’t mean your design team has to succumb to that dynamic.

仅仅因为流行文化经常将设计师描绘成在已经弄清楚“事物”之后就在事物中添加美学装饰的人，这并不意味着您的设计团队必须屈服于这种动态。

Clients may not know much about design when they first approach you, and it is your job to ask the right questions to evaluate the team’s openness to learning from you. Only take on clients who are willing to have their assumptions challenged, and don’t settle for projects with clients that relegate design to a mere afterthought.

客户在初次接触您时可能对设计并不了解很多，因此提出正确的问题来评估团队向您学习的开放性是您的工作。 只接受愿意挑战其假设的客户，并且不要与仅将设计权归于事后考虑的客户一起解决项目。

Design is a powerful tool that brings systematic creativity to ambiguous spaces. Design deserves a place in strategy, planning, implementation, and every step in between. Fight for design to have a voice during every part of the process.

设计是一种强大的工具，可为模棱两可的空间带来系统的创造力。 设计应在战略，计划，实施以及两者之间的每个步骤中占有一席之地。 争取设计，以便在流程的每个部分都有发言权。

原则2：慢慢来。 (Principle #2: Take it slow.)

As the working relationship develops, let design methods and mindsets naturally emerge as tools to help solve their problems.

随着工作关系的发展，设计方法和思维方式自然会成为帮助解决他们的问题的工具。

While it’s tempting to fully embrace Principle #1 and go on the offensive to speak loudly and assertively about what design could be and should be in order to demand respect, it’s important not to come off as too aggressive. We won’t get the change to change people’s minds if they’re turned off by our haughtiness. Respect the character of your clients and recognize it’s likely a lack of exposure, rather than intentional malice, that causes them to misunderstand design.

尽管试图完全接受原则＃1并继续进行攻势，大声而有说服力地谈论什么设计应该是应该受到尊重，这是很诱人的，但重要的是不要太过激进。 如果人们因我们的傲慢而无法改变主意，我们将不会获得改变。 尊重客户的性格，并认识到可能是缺乏曝光而不是故意的恶意，这会导致他们误解设计。

Instead of trying to explain all that design can offer at the very first client meeting, acknowledge that re-educating people about design is a process. View each touchpoint as a single step on the journey of discovering design’s true value, which will only bear fruit through time and relationship.

不要在第一次客户会议上试图解释设计可以提供的全部内容，而是要承认对设计人员进行重新教育是一个过程。 将每个接触点视为发现设计真正价值的第一步，只有通过时间和关系才能结出硕果。

The best strategy to engage a client is to start by getting to know them and their problems without trying too hard to evangelize design. As the working relationship develops, let design methods and mindsets naturally emerge as tools to help solve their problems. This just-in-time learning will strengthen their trust in you while helping them naturally see the ways design is relevant and useful to them.

吸引客户的最佳策略是从开始了解他们及其问题开始，而不必太努力宣传设计。 随着工作关系的发展，设计方法和思维方式自然会成为帮助解决他们的问题的工具。 这种及时的学习将增强他们对您的信任，同时帮助他们自然地看到设计对他们而言相关和有用的方式。

原则3：共享您的流程。 (Principle #3: Share your process.)

Take any opportunity you can to make the design process more transparent.

抓住一切机会，使设计过程更加透明。

Non-designers often think that a well-designed product or service is something that effortlessly sprouts out of the minds of gifted creative people. And while it’s true that creatives are indeed brilliant, this limited characterization of a designer makes it easy for clients to dismiss the strategic value that design mindsets and methodologies can add to every part of product design.

非设计师通常认为，精心设计的产品或服务会毫不费力地从富有创造力的人们的头脑中萌芽。 确实，创意人才的确是杰出的，但设计师的这种有限的性格特征使客户可以轻松地摒弃设计思想和方法论可以为产品设计的每个部分增加的战略价值。

Sadly, this narrow conception is largely our fault. If the only touchpoints clients have with our design team are the initial consultation and the final deliverable with only a few drafts for review along the way, it’s no wonder they don’t realize that design has a huge cadre of processes and methods.

可悲的是，这种狭narrow的观念很大程度上是我们的错。 如果客户与我们设计团队的唯一接触点是最初的咨询和最终的交付结果，并且在此过程中仅需审核几份草稿，也就不足为奇了，他们不会意识到设计拥有大量的过程和方法。

To counter this limited view and broaden your clients’ definition of what design can offer, take any opportunity you can to make the design process more transparent. Bring your clients to brainstorming meetings, get their input on rough sketches, share ideas in a way that makes them comfortable enough to contribute; invite them into the process in any way you can. Show your work as much as you can to begin to dispel their false notions of what they think design is and isn’t.

为了克服这种有限的观点并扩大客户对设计可以提供的定义，请抓住一切机会使设计过程更加透明。 让您的客户进行集思广益的会议，获得他们对粗略草图的投入，以使他们足够舒适地做出贡献的方式分享想法； 尽您所能邀请他们参与这个过程 。 尽可能多地展示您的作品，以开始消除他们对设计思想的误解。

原则4：说出他们的语言。 (Principle #4: Speak their language.)

Communicate your design decisions in a way your clients will relate to.

以与客户相关的方式传达您的设计决策。

Design is messy. Creating something from nothing involves feeling your way through ambiguity, often making decisions when an outcome is not guaranteed and needing to change direction as more of the space is explored.

设计很杂乱。 从无到有地创造事物涉及通过模棱两可的方式感觉自己，经常在无法保证结果的情况下做出决定，并且随着探索更多空间而需要改变方向。

Through training and experience, designers have developed faith that each tentative step will bring the team closer to the glory of the final product. However, non-designers often don’t see the fits and starts in the same exciting way. While sharing your process as outlined in Principle #3, it’s important to communicate your design decisions in a way your clients will relate to. When you justify a design decision using the metrics your client cares about, you help them see the value in the recommendation and they’re more likely to get on board.

通过培训和经验，设计师已经建立了信念，即每个尝试性步骤都将使团队更加接近最终产品的荣耀。 但是，非设计人员通常不会以合适的方式看到合适的产品并入手。 在共享原则3中概述的过程时，以与客户相关的方式传达设计决策很重要。 当您使用客户关心的指标来证明设计决策的合理性时，可以帮助他们看到建议中的价值，并且更有可能加入他们的行列。

For example, if the client is driven by revenue, tie your recommendations back the company’s bottom line. If the client is driven by referrals, make the case for how the new direction will make people more inclined to promote the product. Or if they care about the numbers of people using the product, show why the pivot will provide greater access to it. Using these metrics well often means learning the language of business, and there are great resources out there (like UIE’s UX Strategy Playbook or the d.MBA) to help designers bring business acumen into their design process.

例如，如果客户受收入驱动，则将您的建议与公司的底线挂钩。 如果客户受到推荐的驱使，请说明新方向如何使人们更倾向于推广产品。 或者，如果他们关心使用该产品的人数，请说明为什么该枢轴将提供更多使用它的机会。 很好地使用这些指标通常意味着学习业务语言，并且那里有大量资源(例如UIE的UX策略手册或d.MBA )可以帮助设计师将业务敏锐度引入设计流程。

原则5：长期思考。 (Principle #5: Think long-term.)

What we really aim to do is change the culture, one partnership at a time.

我们真正要做的是一次改变一种伙伴关系的文化。

When our design team partners with clients, we focus beyond the single project. Of course we strive to make quality products, but that is not all we hope to achieve. What we really aim to do is change the culture, one partnership at a time.

当我们的设计团队与客户合作时，我们将重点放在单个项目之外。 当然，我们努力制造出优质的产品，但这不是我们希望实现的全部。 我们真正要做的是一次改变一种伙伴关系的文化。

After all, a single project can bring a wave of victory, but thinking long-term to change a culture turns the tides to bring forth an entire sea of opportunity. Regard each client team as an ally, working with you to help your organization see that design can do more.

毕竟，一个项目可以带来一波胜利，但长期思考改变文化会扭转潮流，带来整个机遇之海。 将每个客户团队视为一个盟友，与您一起帮助您的组织看到设计可以做更多的事情。

For most people, working in ambiguous problem areas in close collaboration with human-centered designers is not a familiar space to occupy. There’s a lot of organizational baggage to fight, and there will be many bumps along the road. But with tenacity, cleverness, and a good attitude, it’s possible to usher forth change. It is not quick, and it is not easy. But it is worth it.

对于大多数人来说，与以人为本的设计师紧密合作在模棱两可的问题领域中工作并不是一个熟悉的空间。 有很多组织上的包to需要抗衡，沿途会有很多坎bump。 但是凭借坚韧，聪明和良好的态度，有可能带来变革。 这不是很快，而且也不容易。 但这是值得的。