I'm a dev, but I've got good design instincts and build UI prototypes often. Many people that make suggestions with respect to design often cannot visualize/im

I'm a dev, but I've got good design instincts and build UI prototypes often. Many people that make suggestions with respect to design often cannot visualize/imagine what they are actually suggesting. I recall once a product person wanted to make something "pop" on a site by changing the color of a button to yellow (blue background). The person had the best intentions and even picked out the exact hex-color. I googled the hexcode, and very quickly felt it was the wrong color as soon as I saw it. Yellow works with blue, but the yellow he picked out was too bright and neonish. This was easy for me to visualize quickly and dismiss the idea. The product person either could not envision what he was proposing, or lacked the instincts to dissuade him on the choice. Therein lies the dilemma, and the only real solution is to design both ideas and hope good taste wins out. I suggested a more orange, pastel-like color that worked out far better. This is a simple example, but I've commonly encountered many people in web development who are unaware of their lack of design sense. If you suspect that is the case with someone you are dealing with, the only thing you can really do is visualize it for them. Quickly hack out their idea, and present it along with your own mocks/prototypes. Don't just mock their idea and then say "there, you see, it's not so good", because they may not even have the baseline taste to judge that. Steve Job's said something that I think adequately captures the situation, "people don't know what they want until you show it to them". They may realize they want what you originally gave them after all is said and done.