Design Director Liz Friedman: Creating Spaces Unique to the Client
Liz Friedman is an Interior Design Director of the Workplace Interiors studio and a Principal here at Ziegler Cooper. This past month, we sat down with her to talk about the studio’s client-centered design process.
How does responding to the client and their needs factor into your design process?
LF: Its everything! The client’s needs drive our design decisions, helping us deliver solutions that transcend the cookie-cutter and the designers personal aesthetics. We’re able to create spaces that are unique to the client.
At what point in your process do you focus on discovering the client’s needs?
LF: After our initial meeting with the client, we set out to understand what their drivers and goals are. It has to happen before any design services can begin. We like to do this upfront because it helps us create a framework that eliminates the need for us to spend more time going back and forth with the client later in the process.
How do you determine what clients want and need?
LF: The client’s existing space, their website, and the conversations we have with them help us find connections. We ask a LOT of questions, like: “what do you have in your current space that you don’t want”, “what do you like about your current space?” and “what is on your wish list for the space?”. Discussions about their company values and the image they want to portray internally and externally also provide us with direction.
How do you translate conceptual things like values into a physical space?
LF: It can be done in a variety of ways. Let’s take “transparency” as an example. That could mean that the design has an all open floor plan, that the materials that we use are literally transparent (like windows), or that the materials we use are exactly what they are (like using wood instead of laminate). We work to ensure that the spaces we design reflect the client’ values in ways that the subconscious can easily register.
What happens if your client has a lot of ideas and/or goals to work with?
LF: We ask them which elements are most critical and which they want to share most with employees. We’ll also know what to include by how the client lights up when they talk about things.
When working with a large client group, how do you manage all of their ideas and perspectives?
LF: We host interactive image association sessions to get alignment on design concepts. We show a range of images showing examples of spaces that are too boring, too extreme, and right in the middle. This visual process helps them create consensus among the group and supports us in creating a balanced result.
Once you’ve gathered all this information, how do you use it?
LF: We host interactive image association sessions to get alignment on design concepts. We show a range of images showing examples of spaces that are too boring, too extreme, and right in the middle. This visual process helps them create consensus among the group and supports us in creating a balanced result.
Liz has spearheaded multiple ZCA projects over the last 15 years, check out some of her work by visiting our website!
