One of the greatest challenges any designer faces is articulating the intuitive. Clearly explaining the hows and whys of the craft—putting words to things you may take for granted—can be a thorny business. Now try doing it under pressure, toe to toe with a steely-eyed boss or client who simply doesn’t have the time to engage, and you’ve entered another league entirely.

对于任何网站设计者来说，一个最大的挑战就是清楚地表述出自己的设计理念。清晰地阐述设计方法与设计原因是一件很难的事情（你可能认为用言语表述很简单）。现在尝试在有压力的情况下阐述这些内容，假如：一些要求苛刻的老板和客户没有时间欣赏你的作品，现在阐述你的设计理念。如果这一点做得好，你的设计水平会大大提高。

The good news is that designers already have what it takes to deliver gracefully under fire. It’s baked right into the job. Good design is iterative, the result of removing the unnecessary until only real value remains. A good presentation, even on the business end of a firing squad, is no different. All that’s needed are a few best practices to keep your focus sharp and the meeting repartee humming.

但值得欣喜的是，优秀的设计者现在已经可以对苛刻的盘问应付自如。好的设计需要反复揣摩，弃其糟粕，留其精华。好的语言表述也是这样，只有多加锻炼，才能抓住要点，巧妙回答苛刻的提问。

The buddy system
考虑用户需要

As the old saw goes, practice makes perfect. And when it comes to practice, the bargains don’t get much better than peer review. No risk to life, limb or project needed. No formal meetings required. Simply turning around and asking, “What do you think?” is enough to get the ball rolling.

俗话说：熟能生巧。但如果实践没有任何作用，你可以与同事进行讨论。不要冒险，根据实际情况选择正确方法。你可以召集几个同事，询问他们对网站的看法 ，这样可能会发现某些需要改进的问题。

You don’t have to agree with everything you hear—that’s the point. Use your colleagues’ questions to get outside your own head, thinking about the work from other perspectives. Getting beaned by a fellow designer’s wild-card critique might smart, but it’s the kindest sort of cruelty there is. Better you hear it now than in the meeting room.

重点是，你需要选择性地考虑他们的意见（不要全盘接受）。重新考虑同事提出的问题，站在别人的角度考虑自己的作品。同事的批评可能会让你受打击，但这种残酷是仁慈的，总比接受客户的批评好。

Try to discuss every criticism rationally. Explain your decisions. And no, “It just works” doesn’t fly here. Think more like, “This layout leads the eye across the most important sections of the page.” Getting to the heart of the “why” as succinctly as possible is key.

尽量理性地分析所有批评意见，然后做出决定。不要考虑：这个内容不突出；而应该这样思考：这种布局会让用户跳过一些重要信息。也就是说，找出核心原因，这是关键。

Remember, just because design can be subjective doesn’t mean it’s baseless. Somewhere deep down you’re making decisions while you’re designing, whether you’re conscious of them or not. The trick is hauling those decisions up to the surface where you can throw some light on them.

请记住：不要因为设计的主观性而忽略了它的原则性。在设计过程中，你肯定对某项内容有自己独到的见解，不知道你有没有意识到。当你把决定付诸于实践时，你就会把自己所擅长的东西自然地运用其中。

As you begin to assemble your talking points, focus on utility as a way to clearly define those decisions and explain them to your audience. (And don’t forget that aesthetics can have utility too!) Pick discrete elements in your design and ask yourself, “What does this do?” Better yet, “What does this do for the user?” If you’ve made an earnest effort to answer these questions and keep finding yourself at a loss for words, it’s probably time to head back to the proverbial drawing board.

在把所有的讨论内容整理好以后，围绕网站效用做出决定，这样保证用户了解这些内容（不要忘记美学也能产生可用性）。找出设计中的离散元素，询问自己：它有什么作用，最好是问：它能对用户产生什么影响。如果绞尽脑汁也无法解答这些问题，或者检查不出言语过失，你可以参考众所周知的设计方法，答案尽在其中。

Gone in 30 seconds
30秒内完成

Now that you’ve fielded some constructive input, it’s time to get acclimated to being under the gun. Got a clock handy? Good. Now watch that second hand and keep the following guideline in mind: once you’ve finished your initial pitch in a tough client meeting you’ll only have about 30 seconds to answer any individual question.

完成这些建设性任务之后，你需要进行表述。旁边有钟表吗？好的，注意秒针，大脑中想象这种情况：完成任务后，在客户见面会上，你只有30秒的时间来回答用户的问题。

No, really.

不，事实并不是完全这样。

Harsh? More like realistic. (Actually you may find 30 seconds is a lot more conversation than you thought!) Sometimes you’ll be a little over. Other times under. What it boils down to is there isn’t a lot of room for going “off message,” as the wonks like to say.

苛刻？其实更现实（你可能认为30秒钟的谈话比你想象的长得多），有时，时间可能会超过一点。某些情况下，就像书呆子们说的那样，客户给你的时间并不到30秒。

Here’s where that peer feedback is truly worth its weight in gold. Chances are, you heard some of your client’s questions coming out of your co-workers’ mouths already. By taking the best nuggets of those earlier conversations and distilling them down to a few sentences apiece, you’ll be ready to deal with a hefty chunk of the most common remarks. Again, think of the clock when planning things out and you’ll do fine.

同事的意见是不是很有价值呢？可能，有些客户的问题是以前同事曾经给你提过的。你可以根据以前的谈话提取重要信息，简单总结几句话，就可以轻松地回答各种问题了。在回答的过程中，注意时间，这样就很完美了。

If there’s a real gem in your design that you’re simply bursting to wax poetic about, you can always have more in reserve, but understand that extended conversation is typically invite-only. It’s nothing personal—we’re all busy people. Even in the rare case when your project is the most important thing going on in the client’s world, it will never be the only thing going on. If they’re blessed with the extraordinary luxury of extra time, they’ll let you know on their own terms.

如果你的设计很有价值，你与客户交谈的时间会更多，但你要明白只有客户可以决定是否延长时间。即使网站设计对用户来说，是最重要的事，但不会是他们唯一需要考虑的事情。用户如果给你更多的时间，会让你了解他们的想法。

The lay of the land
了解目标受众

This next bit of advice isn’t revolutionary by any stretch, but it gets skipped far too often: take the time to research your audience, even if only a little.

从某种意义上来说，下一条意见众所周知，毫无新意，很容易被人们忽略，但是我还是要提醒你：花时间研究网站目标受众，即使受众群很小。

You shouldn’t climb into the cockpit of a fully armed fighter jet without knowing which buttons can cause an international incident, and you certainly shouldn’t walk into an important meeting without knowing something about your audience. It’s to your benefit to find out as much as possible about the people you’re about to share a conference table with. It’s as much about determining what’s audience appropriate as it is about preparing for the unforeseen.

如果不知道哪个按钮会引起世界战争，就不要驾驶武装战斗机，同样，如果不了解客户，就不要进行会谈。在会谈之前，你应该尽可能多了解对方的情况，这对你是有好处的。在很多情况下，尽可能详尽地了解潜在客户可能提出的要求。

The odds are pretty darn good someone other than you has met with these folks before (approaching statistical certainty if the client is internal). Try tapping into institutional memory by starting with a supervisor or co-worker. Have they ever heard of them? Maybe dealt with them before? If they haven’t they can probably point you in the direction of someone who has. If you happen to be the boss (lucky you!), or an independent contractor, you’re likely already dealing with a project manager or company contact who can clue you into references.

在会见客户之前，就可以确定成功的机率，不要因为客户是关系户，就觉得一定会成功，其实他们都是老谋深算的。你可以借助于我们刚才提到的方法，与同事或者某个客户交谈。它们以前听说过这个公司吗？以前有可能合作过？如果没有，他们可能会让你了解与这个公司合作过人。如果你是老板，或是独立的设计者，你可能以前与项目经理或公司合作过，他们都可以给你提供参考意见。

Once you’ve located your source, find out about things like individual meeting styles, previous dealings, company history. Just to be clear, don’t be invasive. There’s no need for grainy surveillance photos or a Tom Clancy–style dossier. Just enough to give you a sense of tact.

在确定了以上内容之后，可以查找个人会谈风格，交易情况以及公司历史等方面的内容。只要了解清楚就可以，不要过分。你没有必要拍摄照片进行监视，或者查找档案。让客户知道你了解他们就可以了。

Now that you know something about the client, don’t go to extremes trying to anticipate their every move. Just keep yourself tuned into the broad themes. Strong reputation for a conservative approach? Might want to dial back on the dancing logos. Best toga parties in town? Okay, shoot for a little more panache. This preview of coming attractions also keeps you from being blindsided by a client’s infamous hatred of orange logos or penchant for conducting meetings from the office treadmill. (Go ahead, laugh—it sounds funny until it actually happens.) A little insight up front can keep you unflappable in the face of the otherwise unexpected.

既然了解客户的基本情况，就不要试图了解客户的每一个举动。利用保守方法会达到目的吗？是否又想到跳动的logo呢？好的，页面可以华丽一点。预先浏览网站页面，可以让你了解一些情况，比如，用户不喜欢橙色logo，或者用户要在单调的工作中寻找乐趣。可能你觉得很可笑，但事情确实会发生。在面对意想不到的情况时，适当的洞察力可以帮你保持镇定。

Succinctly
简明的交流方式

Ultimately, the goal of all this preparation is to make you a better designer all the time, not just when you’re being put on the spot. Developing a clear, concise communication style is probably one of the most important things you’ll ever do for your career.

这些准备工作的目的，是让你成为一个好的设计者，而不是帮你应付尴尬局面。形成一种清晰、简明的交流方式，是你工作生涯中最重要的一件事。

Through constant practice and execution, you’ll become ever more adept at fine-tuning your approach on the fly, but the fundamental building blocks will always be there. Find the message, then deliver it to the audience with clarity and speed.

通过不断参加实践，你会在工作中更熟练地调整工作方式，但一些基本问题总会存在。找出信息，然后，以简洁、明晰的语言传递给客户。

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