How to avoid Scope Creep: Top 6 tips

No one likes scope creep. You know. That moment when the project begins to change from the original design brief agreed. When you reach the 10th revision given by one of the stakeholders from the client side. And you as the graphic designer starts to have a glazed look in your eyes.

Not to mention the missed deadlines and heated meetings that end in sulking. Or bottled anger vented on a friend during a weekend dinner.

But we need to identify why scope creep happen in the first place. Some reasons include vague briefs, not documenting conversations between the client and designer in followup mails, unhealthy boundaries and so on. However, these situations can be avoided.

Here are my top 6 tips on how clear briefs, practical deadlines and pragmatic expectation management can ensure a great design outcome for your brochure or book. Website or ad.

Tip 1: Outline a clear brief

As a client, you must know what you want from the designer. Lack of clarity causes confusion and unnecessary tension. And you end up changing designers mid-stream or several times.

I remember a project where a client gave a rough outline of the work they wanted with a general idea of the final outcome. During the course of the project, they kept asking for various changes and I said yes. Till scope creep started..

They wanted me to design more components (poster variants, banners, even the concept for a website..). I could not accommodate so many requests and it led to much debate. So for a smoother workflow, start with an accurate brief that details the scope of work, the actual budget, target audience, your competition etc. In the first meeting.

Tip 2: Sign the contract

It is best that everything is in black and white. The finalized scope of work, payment terms, exit terms, deadlines, penalties, etc.. No surprises later.

Tip 3: Accurate content

Give accurate content to your designer. Besides text, do invest the time to provide high-res images in the correct file format. Else, you run up extra costs. Besides, replacing low-res images just before deadline is time consuming. Or it ruins the final design.

During a particular project, the client asked me to design paint cans. But they did not provide me with any content from their end -?just a rough idea of what they wanted with some samples of other brands. But when presented with the design, they wanted several changes - different images, colors and a design layout far removed from the first brief.

Tip 4: Limit approvals

Restrict the number of people reviewing the project. This is an important part that is often overlooked. The more people who need to approve the design, the greater number of opinions - leading to multiple revisions that are frustrating. It can also mess up the timeline and budget of the entire project.

I had a client who would come back every three to four days with changes and I kept accepting their requests. Later, I learned that around 10-12 people were reviewing the same project - their differing opinions kept me under immense pressure and led to a major delay in deadlines.

Tip 5: Fix deadlines

Time is money. Hence, it is important that you give the designer at least 48 hours to make changes. Because a small change affects the rest of the design and he or she needs to balance the entire layout.

I faced a situation where the client did not have a fixed deadline. This caused overlap in my timelines on other projects. It also led to complete chaos, frustration and a rush job towards the end. In such cases, a compromise is often made with the quality of the design. But then dont blame the designer….

Tip 6: Finding the right designer

Above all, it is important to understand that there are different types of designers and each has her or his specialization. Some graphic designers specialize in typography, while others specialize in web design or print media, etc. Often clients ask me for video editing and animations at the end of the project - even though it is not?part of my deliverables. Nor expertise..

Hence, it is important for you as a client to find a designer who is suited for your project. This helps in easier communication lines during the iteration phase.

Collaboration is key

None of my 6 tips are rocket science. Just the obvious but hard to implement. Yet, collaboration is the key word.. Respectful and transparent communication between the client and the graphic designer leads to successful outcomes.. Which is what we all want!