Writing a design rationale

As we discussed in the last movie revealing your design is a great way to get an honest and genuine reaction from your client. But not every client will be satisfied with that type of approach. So be prepared to explain why you designed what you designed. The most effective way to do this is to write a design rationale for each design direction you've created. These should always be provided after a reveal either in person or via e-mail.

A design rationale is nothing more than selling a vision to your client. What is the message of the design? What does the design communicate? Be positive when you write these. You want your client to capture the vision and see the possibilities your design provides. Here's a design rationale I used on one of my projects. This was a brand character design I created for a tech company. My design rationale read like this: Database work doesn't need to be boring.

It can be fun, creative, and adventurous, enabling the users to go where no man has gone before. This brand character reflects that adventurous spirit your service enables. Every developer has an inner child dreaming up grand ideas and you'll equip them to discover new worlds of opportunity. Remember your upfront creative preparation should give you a good insight into what your client's perceptions are and who their target audience is and from that you'll want to formulate your design rationale.

Your narratives in the design rationale, however, can be visionary or pragmatic in approach. So take the time to think through what you're going to say and craft your rationale so it's memorable and compelling to the ones will hear it.