At this point in my freelance career I want to be helping people with meaningful projects, and working as an advisor and partner rather than a ‘pixel pusher’ doing low value execution tasks because they don’t know how.
I had an enquiry from a potential web design client this week that contained quite a few ‘red flags’, so I’ll anonymise it and go through some of them here. I’ve learned to spot troublesome projects over the years I’ve been a freelancer so here are three of the signs. It’s not always a case of “UGH CLIENTS” though and some good communication beforehand can turn otherwise vague and unsuccessful projects into ones satisfying for both parties.
Sending designs
The email had a PDF attached with some awful designs for a web based calculator. Colours, spacing, fonts – all of it was bad. The client wanted a quote to turn this into a website.
Why is this a red flag? This is a sign that the client doesn’t value my input as an experienced designer, and barely understands design principles. A lofi ‘wireframe’ can be very useful to explain ideas but full designs and instructions to ‘just build it’ are a warning sign. There’s so much to bear in mind that experienced web designers sometimes don’t provide work that is suitable for building into a usable, mobile friendly website.
My response: I will thank them for their ideas and then explain the requirements of mobile responsive design, accessibility, grid systems and type scales. Also that as an experienced designer, I would only take on the project if producing designs was part of my role.
Weak Scope or Specification
The calculator was complex, which means various forms of validation as well as file uploads and payments. A lot of thought needs to go into that kind of project or it will be an unusable nightmare. What happens if the file uploads fail? Where do they upload to? How is GDPR handled? Will there be a client login area?
Why is this a red flag? No mention was made of any of these points in the email, so it would likely come down to me to spec this project out before I can even quote for it. This would take hours of my unpaid time and is equivalent to ‘spec work’. A risk is that once I’ve created the free spec/quote, clients can send that to some other companies and choose the cheapest.
My response: My stock response to these kinds of ‘moonshot’ projects is that I’d be happy to quote to produce a technical specification and even a quick prototype to explore the needs of the project and trial working together.
Making their business model my problem
The email had a line along the lines of “we’re taking a long shot with this project and not sure if it will work, so please consider that with your quote”. I find this insulting for at least two reasons, and it’s almost enough to decline a project.
Why is this a red flag? It firstly implies that businesses just make numbers up rather than scoping the project. Secondly, if the business model is bad or they haven’t researched the market, that has zero impact on how much work we need to put in to build their project. Lastly, it might be an appeal to pity to get a discount which is a terrible way to start a relationship. Discounts may or may not come down the line once we’ve worked together.
My response: While tempted to just decline, I’d reply with words to the effect of “How exciting that you’ve come up with a novel business idea. My input of time and knowledge would be the same for a new or existing business however, so the quote would be based on the project specification.”
Summary
We’ve gone through three red flags that freelancers might see in enquiries from potential new clients here. It’s not mandatory to go along with the position clients try and put us in however, and we can push back to clarify how we work and show the value of our experience and knowledge. Depending where you’re at in your career, declining projects that show these warning signs might save you future headaches.