Jumpchart is really a communication centric tool. It’s designed to be quick for developers to live in, but easy enough for clients to be actively involved in collaboration. If you’re not directly inviting clients to participate in your Jumpcharts you’re missing out on the best part of the process.

When clients can be engaged in the process of defining how their site will work, they’re more likely to be happy with the end product. They feel included in the decision making process, so they have ownership of the site in a way that other planning apps can’t provide. Client involvement in the planning phase leads to:

• Less scope creep
• Less revisions
• Quicker development
• Easier organizing (No digging through email to find where to put stuff)
• Clients who defend the site as their own

That last one is a big one. Defending the site. People have a way of escaping out of controversy. If you deal with clients who have boards of directors, and committees it’s important to have a reliable person on the inside. Someone who defends the work, because they took part in it. Otherwise it’s just another project that nobody is emotionally invested enough in to fight off the corporate nonsense that ruins great websites.

So while Jumpchart is a great tool for individuals to plan websites within the walls of their own office, -you’re missing out on a whole lot of benefit if you’re not involving clients in the process.