From birthday parties to web design: the importance of iteration

I’d like to tell you about an old co-worker who had trouble making decisions. She once asked me to help plan her birthday party. The idea was to invite our co-workers to lunch at a restaurant close to our office. Easy, right?

Wrong! It took her weeks just to choose her top 10 restaurant options.

We ended up trying all her choices, and even then, it was hard to narrow it down to just two. With the party just a week away, I had to push to pay the reservation fee that day, or else they would give her spot to someone else.

Finally, she chose a venue, and her party was a blast. Thank goodness for deadlines!

By the way, she just got engaged, and guess who’s organizing her wedding? 

Not me.

Ideas lead to more ideas

Speaking of deadlines, let’s talk about design. Some people think that once you’ve created something, you can’t change it again, but that’s not true.

Design is an iterative process, which means you might have to try and improve your work several times before it’s just right, just like making a cake. 

The first time you try, you might not get it right, and that’s okay. You can always go back and make some changes until it’s perfect.

Deadlines are not the end

Many people celebrate after launching a product or service, but professionals know that it’s not the end of the journey, just a milestone. 

There might be feedback from viewers or users that something isn’t working right, or you might find that your idea wasn’t as good as you thought it would be.

But that’s okay too!

For some, this is disheartening after all the hard work, but resilient and diligent designers and business owners welcome these changes. They only mean that the finished product can still be made better than before.

Be open to changes

If you’re a designer, don’t give up if you have to go through multiple rounds of planning and testing. It’s all part of the process and what makes design such a fun and rewarding industry to be in.

Here’s the thing: most web design owners or managers would agree that there’s no time or resources left to accommodate unlimited revisions from indecisive clients.

So, how do you keep the clients happy while keeping your designers sane?

Unlimited revisions with Deer Designer

Luckily, there’s an on-demand design service called ahem Deer Designer that allows unlimited revisions as part of their process until the client is satisfied.

The only thing that might stop your clients from requesting countless revisions is a deadline, so be patient, listen to what they say, and keep making changes until you get the results you want.