“I'll know it when I see it” is the most honest thing a client can say. Here's how to work with it.
Tandem··5 min read
"I'll know it when I see it." Every web designer hears it, usually right after asking what the client wants. It sounds like a client who hasn't done their homework. It's actually an accurate description of how taste works, and once you design your process around it, it stops being a problem.
Why clients can't tell you
Taste is mostly recognition, not recall. Ask someone to describe their favourite kind of website and they'll reach for the few words everyone uses: clean, modern, bold, simple. Show them two real sites side by side and they'll pick one in a second, often with a strong reason they couldn't have given you a minute earlier.
So when a client says they don't know what they want, they usually mean they can't describe it. They know it. They just need something to react to.
Clients can't describe taste before they see it. They can always react to it.
Signs you're in this situation
The brief is all adjectives.
"Professional but friendly. Modern but timeless." Each word is true, and together they could describe almost any site.
They send a competitor's site and say "like this, but different."
They like something about it. Neither of you knows which part yet.
The first review is "it's not quite there."
You built what the brief said. The brief just didn't say enough.
Feedback arrives as feelings.
"It feels a bit cold." "Can it pop more?" Real information, in a format you have to decode.
What to do instead: five steps
Stop asking them to describe it. Drop "what style do you like?" from your questionnaire and your call. Ask about goals, customers and what the site has to do. Those they can answer.
Show pairs, one difference at a time. Put two real websites side by side that differ in one clear way: quiet or loud, warm or cool, editorial or product-led. Ask "which feels more like you?" Five or six pairs is enough.
Write down picks, not reasons. Don't ask why at first; reasons come out as more adjectives. Note the picks and look for the pattern.
Ask why only about the surprises. If they picked something you didn't expect, that's the useful conversation. "You went for the bolder one there. What drew you to it?"
Write the direction from what they picked, and confirm it. "Picked editorial layouts over product grids every time; chose warm photography over flat product shots." Send it back and ask if it sounds like them.
Tools that help
A screen-share and a list of sites. Free, and it works. Keep a bookmark folder of sites grouped by the differences you want to test.
Our free website brief generator. Send it before the call: six quick questions and eight style picks, and you get a one-page brief. No signup for either of you.
Tandem. Built on exactly this idea: your client reacts to real website sections for about five minutes (Like, Nope, Super Like), their favourites go head to head, and you get a brief built from what they chose, plus a first layout to design from. The design stays yours.
Clients sometimes feel embarrassed that they can't describe what they want. Take that away early: "Most people can't describe a website style, and that's completely normal. I'm going to show you a few real sites, and you just tell me which feels more like you. No wrong answers." It turns the hardest part of the project into the easiest.
FAQ
Common questions
What do you do when a client doesn't know what they want?+
Stop asking them to describe it and show them options instead. Put pairs of real websites side by side that differ in one clear way, ask which feels more like them, note the picks, and write the design direction from the pattern.
Why do clients say "I'll know it when I see it"?+
Because taste is mostly recognition, not recall. Most people can't describe a website style in words, but they can pick between two real examples almost instantly.
How many examples should I show a client?+
Five or six pairs is usually enough to see a pattern. Each pair should differ in one clear way, such as quiet or loud, or warm or cool, so each pick tells you one thing.
Should I use a moodboard?+
Moodboards help, but they show what someone collected rather than what they choose when options compete. Pairs force a choice, which makes the pattern clearer.
Show, don't ask
Let the client react, then write the brief
Send your next client the free brief generator, or join the waitlist for Tandem, which does it with real website sections.
