Doris
设计师是一个介于技术工人和艺术家之间的职业。作为一名设计师，你一定也陷入过这样的困境。自己熬了几个日夜的工作成果得不到客户认可，反而被说成是在自嗨。尽管作品已经深深地感动了自己，甲方却一点也体会不到你的细节，创意和巧妙的用心。于是乎你感慨世风日下，曾经被珍视的良好品质不再被人看重，客户的眼睛里只有大众需求，效益曲线。即便是做出了一个对方满意的作品，却连发个朋友圈的勇气都没有，觉得这样的设计，反而在同行面前拿不出手。那今天咱们来聊聊，要想成为优秀的设计师，取悦客户，感动自己，哪个更重要些？
设计师，感动自己很重要
“艺术家首先感动自己，然后感动别人。” 这句话放在当代社会，似乎太理想化了一些，但却蕴含着永恒的道理。作为一名设计师，首先要有感动自己的能力，用通俗点的话说，要有双会流泪的眼睛。一个不敏感的设计师，必然不能体察用户的实际需求，也难以把握细节。
更何况，作为设计师，许多不认可，都只是暂时的。多年前一个领导对我说，世界上没有差的设计作品，即使有，也只是没有出现在合适的时间，地点，和环境罢了。我们的确需要相信自己的专业能力，不要因为客户的一句“别再自嗨了好吗？”而丧失信心。
另一方面，一个设计师，如果想要长期从事设计行业，自我认可就显得非常重要。热爱是坚持的源动力，很少有人能在毫无成就感的时候对一件事保持热爱。作为设计师，在与客户产生矛盾时，要相信自己的专业能力，这里不仅仅是使用Photoshop,Mockplus等设计工具的能力。还要相信，靠自己的逻辑思维和像素眼做出的产品，如果能感动自己，也一定有感染他人的力量。
设计师，满足客户是必须
作为一名设计师，在具备感动自己的能力之后，也要能满足用户的需求。这并非是迎合市场，取悦他人，而是一名优秀设计师必须具备的素养。原因可以归为以下三点：
（1）你了解设计，甲方却了解市场
术业有专攻。混迹设计界已久的你能轻松分辨上千种色彩。但市场需求，大众心理这些东西，坦白讲，还是甲方比较在行。设计师常常误认为自己比客户更懂需求，这绝对是幼稚的想法。毕竟，你从最适合人性的，最理想的角度出发设计出的作品，未必是用户当前所能接受的。
举个简单的例子：理发师永远剪不出你要想的发型。即使你已经清楚地描述了自己的需求，期待的发型和他们剪出的样子依然相差很大。你质疑，他却说 “你不适合那种。”此时理发师和设计师的心理是一样的，都是从自身的审美和理解出发，将自己的好恶强加给别人，没有真正考虑客户的感受。因此，作为设计师，越俎代庖，帮客户做决定，是不可取的。
（2）内心可以小众，工作时面向大众
作为一名有品位的设计师，你听小众民谣，看公路电影，时不时再看个画展，听个歌剧，这些都无可厚非。但内心偏向小众的设计师，在完成任务时也难免受到小众思维的影响，此时，则更要用心，而不是用耳朵去倾听客户的需要。作为设计师，我们看到的世界和客户大不相同，所以才会有：好不容易选出了一个合适的字体，却被甲方要求换成一个巨丑的。你在界面上的留白，在客户看来是空白。在这种情况下，思维的转换，和同理心就显得非常重要。
（3）影响力是后话，项目能力是前提
有前辈曾说，一个设计师，如果想不断进阶，成为顶级设计师，必须不断提高自己的影响力。的确，设计这个事如果想当成一辈子的事业，就不像开始时只做项目那么简单。但客观地讲，在前期，一个合格的设计师首先应具备良好的项目能力。这里的项目能力包括：能否独立完成交互方案；能否用简单图形表达复杂体验；能否在客户不愿预付款时全心投入，发挥最佳水平；能否为完成作品连续十几个小时画图；能否在用户需求没有表达完整时，提前为他们想到后续事宜，留出合理空间。这些都考验一个设计师的项目能力。因此，作为一名设计师，尤其是设计新人，想要坚持自己的想法，或拓展自己设计的影响力，前提都是要保证良好的项目能力。一个具备优秀项目能力的设计师，不愁得不到客户的认可，也不愁没有发挥的空间。要知道，艺术范的设计作品，未必成功，但成功的设计，大都是艺术品。
说到这里，作为设计师的你，也许心中已经有了答案。好的设计作品一定能感动自己，但封闭式的自我感动意味着停滞不前。或许每位设计师在选择这份工作时，都想把它当成一辈子的事业。既然如此，要钻研的就不仅仅是理论知识，还有与客户高效沟通的方法。要首先确保自身的项目能力，得到客户的认可，才能有更多施展才华的空间。相信你一定能成为优秀的设计师！
Designers’ Dilemma: To Compromise or Not? That’s a Question
As a UI / UX designer, a job falling in between technical worker and artist, you must’ve ever been in such a dilemma: the client doesn’t like your design, which you’ve spent a couple of days and nights to complete. He even thinks you were blindly feeling good about yourself. The design, which is full of your originality and ingenious details, can’t be understood by them at all. You start to complain about the twisting values of the day, where the clients see nothing but public demands and efficiency curve. Say, you finally made a design they like, but you feel ashamed to share it on social network, since it’ll win no respect for you from fraternity. Therefore, in this article, I want to discuss this with you: asUI / UX designers, whether we should compromise to satisfy our clients?
It’s Necessary to Follow Your Own Heart in UI/UX Design
“An artist, whose work cannot even touch himself, will never influence others.” This might be a little old-fashioned these days, but still tell the truth to some extent. As UI / UX designers, we should above all have the ability to touch ourselves. In other words, be sensitive enough; otherwise we cannot get the exact demand of our clients and master the details.
Years ago, a superior told me, “There’s no bad design, but only a design that appears in a wrong time at a wrong place.” He’s right. As UI/ UX designers, we need to have confidence in our professional competence. Don’t get frustrated only because of some negative words by our clients.
We should follow our heart and believe in ourselves timely, as self-recognition plays an important role in the career of UI / UX designers if we want to be engaged in this industry for a long time. Passion is the source of persistence, and it’s hard to keep the passion when you have no sense of achievement when doing a work. Therefore, we need to have confidence in our professional competence when there’s a disagreement with our clients. Here the “professional competence” refers not only to a master ofdesigning tools like Photoshop and Mockplus, but also our logics and thinking modes. The design we made will definitely affect others if we ourselves really get touched by it.
Good UI / UX Designers Are Able to Satisfy Their Clients
A good UI / UX designer can not only make a design to his own satisfaction, but also meet the needs of his clients. This is in fact nothing about catering to the public taste. Following are the two reasons:
(1) Designers Know a Lot about UI /UX, but Little on Public Demands
Designers might be an expert on colors, interactions and user experience, however, as for public demands, market situation, etc. we’re probably not better than the clients. UI / UX designers sometimes have an illusion that they know more about public demands than Party A, that’s, frankly speaking, a little stupid. It’s common that a really humanist and ideal design couldn’t even find its place in real life.
A good example to explain this is to go to the barbershop. The hair designer never gives what you want even if you’ve put requirements very clear. Finally you get a stupid haircut and became speechless when he told you the one you want doesn’t even fit you. At that moment, the barber also imposes his opinions on others, just like us designers. Therefore, as UI / UX designers, it’s not wise to make choices for our clients.
(2) Project Competence Is More Important than Influence at First
Some people believed that a designer, who wants to grow up to be one of the top-class, should gradually increase the influence of his design. That’s right. However, at the beginning, project competence is more important than influence. Whether you can realize the required interactions independently;show complicated experience with simple graphics; concentrate on your work and give best performance when an advance payment is denied; sketch for a dozen of hours to finish the design in time; think more than your clients when they didn’t tell their demands completely and leave a reasonable space for them in design. All of these are what we called “project competence”. Therefore, as a new designer, if you want to adhere to your own ideas or increase your influence, project competence is the premise. We have reasons to believe that a designer who has excellent project competence will definitely win clients’ respect and get the chance to show his talent.
Until now, you might’ve already had your own answer to this question. It’s good to follow the heart in UI / UX design, but you won’t make progress if you blindly follow your heart, without listening to the advice from outside. If you love design so much and want to make it a life-long career, just take actions now. Learn not only those professional skills, but alsoeffective ways to communicate with your clients. I’m sure that you’ll become an excellent designer some day!