How long will my project take?

My clients always want to know when a project will be finished. Most of the time I can give them a timeframe with an approximate completion date (give or take a week) and stick to it, but other projects may go past deadline. There are many reasons that this may happen, but I stay in contact with my clients almost daily to ensure that things go as smoothly as they can and stay on schedule as much as possible.

I have a habit of creating a project timeline in my proposals. This can only be done when I have conducted an in-depth client interview. Depending on the project, my knowledge of the product or service (or total lack thereof), the client’s preparedness and my current workload, I can prepare a timeline that is relatively accurate.

The best way for clients to help expedite their project to completion is by having the content available to the designer/developer, and providing feedback in a timely manner.

However, as designers, we can’t assume that all clients are truly aware of what they want. We designers think in colors and layouts, but not everyone else does. While the client may know exactly what they need that project to convey, we can’t assume that they know what the finished overall project should truly look like. It is our job to ensure that their project speaks in a design that is appropriate for their goal. Sometimes this takes more time than we would like. A designer might need to do days (or weeks) of research to accurately nail down the correct aesthetic to truly reach the client’s goal.