Web design is a very subjective field where changing tastes and expectations can strip the gears of a project and cause you – the designer or project manager – a whole heap of annoyance. If you’ve ever been faced with a client, who after approving a design, decides to change direction, you know what I’m talking about.

For web designers and developers, and especially project managers, this is a tough nut to crack. We work hard to create a design that not only gains the acceptance of the client, but also works for the target audiences and true users of the site. Oftentimes, in the midst of the project’s final stages, clients may desire to change a color or adjust the header or request alterations to the layout of content. This is a time consuming barrier to finishing the project, and frankly, many clients don’t know what they’re talking about.

Nevertheless, design redirection occurs, and we live with it, pushing on to find the light at the end of the tunnel. What we can do, however, is manage projects in a way that prevents and reduces the potential for design changes further down the road.

Managing web design projects is one difficult job. There are communication and organizing issues, negotiation and networking, and most of all, a strong need for planning. Effectively wielding the skills necessary to implement a successful project can be painful. Sometimes you have to tell a client, “no,” and other times you have deal with a plan that’s falling apart. And if you’re a freelancer or small business, you’re probably doing a majority of the actual design and development work.

Then again, that’s part of the game and what makes project and client relationship management such a diverse and interesting field. Each day throws a new rock at you. You just need to be sure you can catch it.

What kind of skills does it take to make an effective web design project manager? I asked myself this and came up with six definitive qualities. I don’t think you need to master each one, but it doesn’t hurt to be constantly sharpening and refining these skills.

Web design is an exciting field to be involved with. Many times, clients are relatively new to having a professional online presence, which leaves us a lot of room to be creative. The downside, however, is lack of content. Organizations that haven’t had a good web site before don’t have the copy needed to propel their new site.

The problem goes from bad to worse when we reach the end of the project only to realize there isn’t any good content. This is the content crunch and it can delay your projects indefinitely.

How can you avoid the content crunch? Below I’ve outlined some simple and effective tips to stop this problem dead in its tracks before it brings the project down.

Most successful web design projects are organized into a system of milestones with each one representing a critical piece of the project. Milestones are simple in concept, but they can be tricky to nail down.

For example, how specific should we get with the milestones? If we get too specific, we risk breaking the project down into a chaotic mess of little chunks. However, if we aren’t specific enough, the deliverables become unknown and nothing gets done.

Finding the right balance is key. It takes practice and persistence, and it demands a lot of discipline from the designer or project manager. Milestones also vary from project to project. Larger projects require more milestones while smaller projects may only need a handful.

In my experience with many small, mid-sized and large projects, I’ve created a base list of milestones that I typically work with and adjust for my projects.

Here’s the deal. Designers should not accept every project that crosses their eyes. For five years, I was stuck in the mentality that every potential project was a chariot of gold ready to bring me unimaginable riches.

Wrong. I discovered through a series of poor projects that accepting everything is not a profitable strategy. I began to understand and value the concept of opportunity cost. Let’s say I’m working on a low paying project that, while bringing in some money, eats up all my time and leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. What else could I have done with my time? Could I have worked on a more rewarding project? Or perhaps hunted for more profitable business? I will never know.

This is not a foreign concept to most veteran designers. As you grow, you must become more selective about how you spend your time. But how can you screen potential projects to eliminate the problem ones as quickly as possible?

I’ve developed a set of internal heuristics that I run each new project through as a test. Keep in mind that sometimes a project with a small budget or a client with a demeaning attitude is not necessarily a deal breaker. You have to use your judgment and analyze your own opportunity cost. What else could you be working on?

When writing this post, I realized that most clients are actually good and that you should maintain a positive outlook in your project screening process. With that thought, I decided to amend my post to include a way to think positively about each warning sign.

Let’s face it, web design is not a very predictable service. Sure, the extent of the service is to furnish a working web site (one would hope) along with any hosting and maintenance needed to keep it going. The issue is that the specifics of the project change with almost every client interaction.

Keep in mind this isn’t a problem. Web design must be a flexible and fluid service that changes to the varying needs of the client as well as the quick pace of the internet. What is a problem is scope creep.

Scope creep occurs when a client keeps piling on requests for additions or changes to their project that are outside the scope of the project. Some clients are mindful of this and will explicitly ask if it will cost more. Others, unfortunately, are not this considerate or knowledgeable enough to know when they’re pushing it.

How can you combat scope creep? I don’t think you’ll ever get rid of it completely, but there are some ways to prevent and reduce it.

The web design client is an interesting being. They are cut from many different clothes, and they come from all walks of life. Some are tech savvy and others seem like they’re stuck in the Stone Age. There are clients who need their hands held during every step of the web design process while there are others who are on top of everything.

No client is ever the same. And each client presents different situations and exercises that can really test your will.

How far will you go for a certain client? What level of service will you provide even if it falls outside the scope of your agreement?

Sometimes it seems like a web design project can drag on forever. How often are these delays caused by clients? It could be content, authorization, input or a slew of other things that you’re waiting on from the client. The unfortunate fact is that delays are inevitable.

That’s why you need to prepare.

Preparing before even taking on a project can shave off loads of time. Remember, most web design clients don’t know the ins and outs of the web design process as well as we do. They need guidance and they need to be pushed along.

I’ve compiled my own set of guidelines that I’d like to share for sending web projects down the right path.

Contact forms are the lifeblood of the internet. They offer the most basic way to communicate with an organization and they’re pretty much here to stay.

While contact forms may be a clumsy way of communicating, they can get the job done. The problem: are they getting the job done effectively?

There are three common problems with contact forms. The first problem occurs when a form is too daunting for a user to complete. Usually, the form is either too long, confusing or asking for information deemed too personal. The second problem occurs when the user does fill out the form but the information provided is not useful. This is typically the result of an ill-prepared form that asks all the wrong questions. The third and final problem is technical in nature. If there’s a problem with the server and the form doesn’t submit correctly, not only could you lose the form data, but you’ll also have one annoyed user to deal with.

How can we improve the effectiveness of our forms? Here are a few guidelines that I try to follow whenever I create a form.

About 16 days ago I prophesized the death of web design in my oh-so verbose post. In hindsight, I do think many elements of web design are going to die, but I also think in death will be a transformation.

In many regards, web design has not changed significantly since its founding days in the ’90s. Most sites are created as static presences with text that users can consume and perhaps a contact form that can be used to transmit a simple message. This method of communication has become so branded on the internet that it seems almost routine to set it up for any organization.

That’s not a bad thing. Organizations should communicate with people online. The internet offers the ability to communicate with the most people at the cheapest rates.

However, I think web design is due for some death and transformation. No longer can organizations just idly post content. They must engage. They must reach out to their market and actively communicate with people. They must build a brand online that can be accessed, discussed and followed with ease.

Right now, much of the web is passive. There is little interaction and few ways to connect with most organizations.

Web design as a concept won’t die anytime soon, but the methods that have engulfed it will — they must — and a new breed of communication will emerge. I look forward to it.