How can you benefit from collaborating with clients? Collaborating with clients creates an atmosphere of inclusiveness and better communication.

The author says that website design boils down to two areas. What are they and what does each encompass?

Aesthetics (teach the client to judge it on 2 criteria, will the user like it and is it inline with the company’s overall message & image)

Structure (user needs vs. business objectives)
What suggestions did you like the most that he offered for each of these two areas? An aesthetics workshop provides the client a framework to understand how to judge aesthetics. One exercise suggested is user-focused moodboarding which should focus on the aesthetic taste of their audience (color, typefaces, style, and imagery).

As far as structure, giving the 6-version exercise gives the client the opportunity to sketch 6 different approaches to what the home page could look encourages them to set a firm direction.

Is there anything here that you think you just would NOT want to try? What are your concerns?

They are all pretty good ideas as far as collaboration goes but my main concern would be about losing control. Early on, the designer should establish himself/herself as a leader and facilitator. Guide the client by establishing an agenda for meetings. Lead the conversation and use the agenda as a road map so that meetings don’t get off track.