Details and Difficult Customers

I’ve been working with a graphic designer recently on an important project. She’s extremely talented and I have nothing but respect for her.

Her opinion of me is probably not so positive…I am starting to realise that I may be a difficult customer.

I noticed this during a conversation about one particular design she was working on that I really liked, but had one or two “minor” changes I wanted to make on it. But I didn’t know exactly what I wanted the end result to look like, I just knew whereabouts on the image I wanted to tweak. The classic situation where I can 'sort of' visualise a fuzzy picture in my head but cannot easily transmit this into hers!

Can you see how this might be challenging for a designer?

“Please show me what it would look like if you did something in this area of the screen.”

“…actually, can you tweak that area one way and the other so I can see the difference?”

“Can you also show me what it would look like with these other three minor variations?”

Honestly, I don’t feel like a difficult customer, but it’s entirely likely that I might be perceived that way.

Here’s the root of the problem: I may have elements of creativity in my personality but my brain does not give itself over to these creative elements completely, but I do know what I like when I see it. I just don’t always know how to get there.

Personally, I think being pedantic detail oriented is a good thing—it shows you care about the process and the result. It is a necessary investment in the project.

And I can see how it might be annoying.

But it gets results. I’ve always worked like this, working away at the smallest details to make sure everything is “just so.” It means that, when the process is done and we’ve got the finished result, I know that I have done everything I can to make sure it is perfect.

Don't get me wrong, for every project that needs this level of detail there are others where time is the key factor, its pointless having a deadline missed with the 'perfect' solution not quite ready and therefore never delivered.

So do I annoy people? Sure, of course I do. Is the product right at the end of the day? Yes it is. And that’s what matters to me.