One of the few *slightly dreaded parts of my process (and I’m sure one that many designers can relate to!) is when I am asking my clients to send me their thoughts on the mockup I’ve just sent them.

It’s not because don’t love what I sent and that I think they’ll hate it. It’s not that at all. It’s the fact that I never know what to anticipate in return. Are they going to be specific? Do they think I’m a mind reader? Are they going to ask me to change things that are simply not possible? There are so many unknowns here but luckily, there’s a way to completely reel this in. From the client’s perspective, they are probably just as anxious for very similar reasons.

For my non-techies:

What’s the best way to provide feedback to your web designer once they’ve sent over that logo mockup or website draft?

There are a few things to consider here:

1. What did the designer ask you to comment on? Did they direct your attention to specific areas of their work for which they were hoping to receive feedback?
2. What specifically do you love or not love about what they sent over to you?
3. Is your feedback aligned with the amount of revisions you’re allowed to receive at this point?

Your web designer most likely has a process that they follow when it comes to giving and receiving feedback on their design work. Your best bet is to stick to those parameters and be specific! This can feel like a tug of war for many of us on both sides of the equation whether client side or designer side, but it does not have to be this way. Give your designer the best feedback possible by saying exactly what you like or would like to see changed in the next version they present to you.

Useful tips for providing feedback:

• Present the feedback in an organized way! Sending 18 emails, text messages, and voicemails gets no one anywhere fast.
• Be specific about what you do not like. There is a difference between “Banner image is terrible.” and “The banner on the homepage isn’t as eye catching as I anticipated, let’s try a photo with more color.” Now you’ve said what you don’t like and exactly why you don’t like it. Literally, a dream.
• Provide your feedback in a manner that’s easy for both you and your designer. We all learn differently. Some people learn great while watching a video, others prefer written feedback. Sometimes both are helpful together. Whatever the method is, make sure you’re on the same page so that you don’t lose your momentum at this point of the design process.

For designers:

Do you notice your projects start to lag around the time edit requests need to come back from your clients? Is it difficult to understand what your client is asking for? How can you make this process easier for the both of you?

Three years into doing this design business full time, I have finally realized what I don’t like the most about my process and where I experience the longest lags in time. It’s during editing and revising my mockup. And while I’d love to say it’s never my fault and I’m always waiting on clients who seem to have little to no sense of urgency… sometimes IT IS my fault right from the jump. And that’s because there are things I can do to make it easier for us both.

1. Get clear with what you want your client to comment on. The more direction you’re able to provide to them, the easier it will be for them to know what to talk about! If you only want feedback on the colors on a specific page, or maybe you haven’t finalized heading sizes quite yet, let them know where to direct their focus so that you can change what you need.
2. Give your clients a time frame to submit feedback and be sure to stick to it. This is one major boundary that changed things for me early on. I never knew how easy it would be to restrict a client to “3 revisions” on a full website design. What works better for me personally is unlimited edits but we only have a week to work through them. Don’t squeeze your process down into something that rushes you or your client, but do stay on track.
3. Discuss the best way for you to exchange these edits and communicate. In my business I usually provide a Loom video that walks through my work. This takes the pressure off my client and I having to set up time for a meeting and gives them a chance to really take it all in. If my client is more of a reader/typer then I RUN to Google Docs. Easy quick way to keep all edits in one place and a great way to communicate with the commenting feature. (You can also link Looms in a Google doc which is so convenient!)

I totally get it that every client is going to want to do something in their own way, and it’s not always about pushing the square peg into the round hole when it comes to communication style, but having clarity and being specific about what we want and what we need from each other can go a long way. Once I figured out exactly what works best for my process, I haven’t had a project delayed over how to exchange edits and revisions. A business altering discovery for me!

What are some of the ways you communicated with your clients when it comes to editing and revising your work? Which way is the most effective in your experience?