Jelena Racković · · 3 min read · Product & discovery
Why I stopped asking clients what they want
For years, the polite way to start a project was to ask the client what they wanted, then wait. I don’t work like that any more. Not because clients don’t matter, but because waiting to be told turns a partner into a pair of hands, and very few clients hired me for my hands.
Why the question doesn’t work
Most clients are experts in their own business, not in design, product or technology, and there is no reason they should be. Asked what they want, they describe a solution they have seen somewhere else, or they simply don’t know yet. That isn’t a failing on their part. It is the very reason they brought someone in.
A team that only reacts will always be one step behind, building what was asked for rather than what was needed, and then wondering why nobody is quite satisfied.
Lead, but listen
So I lead. I come with a proposal, explain what I would do and why, and stand behind the result. That takes a certain authority, and authority has to be earned through work, not claimed in a meeting. But it is what clients are paying for: someone who has done this before and is willing to say so.
Leading doesn’t mean not listening. It means listening to the problem rather than to the prescribed solution. I ask about what actually happens in their work, where it hurts and what success would look like a year from now, and then I bring something back that they can react to.
Bring the result with you
Nothing moves a conversation like something on the table. A sketch, a prototype, a revised flow: each iteration gives the client something concrete to agree or disagree with, which is far easier than imagining it from scratch. I take part in their process, ask them to be proactive too, and keep the pace by always arriving with the next version.
Over time, the roles settle naturally. They bring the knowledge of their world, I bring the craft and the direction, and neither of us waits for the other to make the first move.
What grows from it
Something good happens when an idea that started with me takes root on their side. They begin to own it, defend it and build on it, often well beyond what we first discussed. Every initiative that grows like that makes the collaboration a little stronger, and strong collaborations tend to be long ones.
Why it matters now
We work in uncertain times, with tighter budgets, faster change and more choice than anyone can reasonably weigh. In that climate, people don’t need another supplier waiting for instructions. They need partners they can rely on, who see a little further ahead and are willing to carry part of the weight.
That, more than any deliverable, is what I try to bring.