National Administrative Professional’s Day, also known as Admin Day, is observed every Wednesday of the last full week of April. It is a day intended to recognize all administrative support professionals. These professionals serve as important pillars of business and economy and are often at the forefront of technological advances.
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Administrative professionals are often responsible for the success of their company’s website. Good design is a combination of art, business, and science. Web designers combine all three elements to come up with an effective and appealing finished product.
Those who are tasked with working with website designers should observe the following tips for encouraging optimal website designs:
- Get more out of meetings – Run smart and creative meetings with your designers.
- Get the brief right – Start by drawing up briefs that will cover everything the designer needs to know. The more specific and thorough, the better.
- Define the level of innovation needed – There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Don’t overlook old content that can be repurposed to fill a need.
- Good designs take time – Be patient with the process. It is a rare team that can pound out a strong design in a matter of minutes. It takes a while to let creative juices flow.
- Get designers away from the computer – Communication and collaboration using multiple mediums can produce innovative ideas. Designers may want to interface with their computer alone, but encourage them to get ideas from group meetings, written materials that are pertinent to your company, experiences out of the office, etc.
- Separate ideation from execution – Creative projects often work like a reverse funnel. They start out with a proliferation of ideas which can then be narrowed down until the best ones are captured. There is a time for ideas and a time for execution. Once you’ve settled on an idea, move to execution rather than going back and forth to the conceptualization process over and over again.
- Don’t hide designers from clients –The designers can translate problems into solutions. Encourage open communication between both sources.
- Deliver honest feedback quickly – Do not hide or sugarcoat any feedback. If the client is not happy with something, let the designers know.
- Know when to back off – Know your team and the way they work. Offer creative reviews, but do not micro-manage. Give the designers adequate time and latitude to do their best work.
There’s more to website design than simply hiring the right person or team. It’s important to work closely with a designer, communicating key information in order to achieve an effective product that showcases your company’s mission and personality.