Seth Godin has this post about gift cards being worse than giving cash for a number of reasons and, overall, I agree with him, but what about when a gift card really is the best gift for someone?
For me, an iTunes, Barnes and Noble or Starbucks gift card is going to be anything but wasted. But the only people (until now) that might have known that are people that really know me. So sure, giving me a gift card to Wal-Mart (no link on purpose) is as good as throwing money away because I won’t use it. But giving me a card to something I frequent shows me that you’re not only thinking of me, but that you know me too.
It’s the reason we get to know our clients and their business before we start a design. Often this doesn’t have to be more than a phone call. Hearing their voice, what they’re excited about, getting to know what they expect (in more ways than colors and fonts) is very important in being able to give people what they want… and need. Otherwise no matter our intentions their website might not be usable and become as wasted as so many unused gift cards.
