TIL a client's 'quick feedback' comment cost me 12 hours of rework

Honestly, I had this one client named Mark last year who always said 'just a quick feedback' before sending me a laundry list of changes. We met up at a coffee shop downtown, and he spent two hours going through every line of my design with a red pen. He kept saying things like 'this shade of blue isn't quite right' and 'can we move that button 3 pixels left?' At first I thought he was just being thorough, but by the end I realized he had no clue what he wanted. I ended up redoing the whole landing page because he changed his mind on the core message. Has anyone else dealt with a client who can't make a single clear decision without dragging you into a rabbit hole of tweaks?

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3 Comments

matthew1666mo ago

Yeah, 3 pixels left is barely a change. That guy sounds exhausting.

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blair_martin6mo ago

Oh man, I gotta disagree a little bit here. Three pixels might sound tiny but on a well designed layout that shift can throw the whole balance off. I've seen people go back and forth over literally one pixel and honestly it matters when you stare at it all day. Not saying the guy isn't exhausting because he probably is, but the pixel thing isn't totally crazy.

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the_viola6mo ago

Ever just give up and let them have the three pixels to keep the peace?

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