With, Not For: Nonprofits and Client-Centered Design
Marketing the Social Good
Article · 15 min read · For: Team leads / managers, Owners / executives
A practical post arguing that services designed for clients rather than with them rest on assumptions that will be wrong. It lists research methods by cost and depth, from desk research and surveys to quarterly client advisory boards and half-day design workshops. Written for nonprofits, but it applies to any owner-run team deciding what to offer customers.
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Problems it helps with
- We build things for customers and find out too late they didn't want them
- Our decisions about the product are based on what we assume, not what we know
- I don't know how to get real input from clients without a big research budget
- We never hear from customers until something goes wrong
What it covers
- Why designing for clients forces bad assumptions
- Quantitative methods: market research, surveys, A/B tests and experiments
- Qualitative methods: interviews, observation, focus groups
- Standing structures: client advisory boards, design workshops, field tests
Topics: Customer relationships · Decision making