How To Give Your Web Designer Feedback That Is Actually Helpful
There is a right way and a wrong way to give feedback to your designer and it’s important to understand the difference between the two in order to help them give you exactly what you want for your project.
As a designer, I can say we all love when a mockup, initial design direction, or draft comes back without any complaints, questions, or amendments - but it doesn’t happen often. Most of the time our clients will have edits that they want to request and expect us to amend to fit their vision for their design. But what we’re really look for is specific information that will get us closer to your end goal in a short amount of time to avoid all the back and forth of endless editing. And while you may think that sending your designer a quick email with bullet points about what you want to change is the best way to do it, you could actually be doing your entire project a disservice which could cost you time and in some cases money.
Let’s take a look at exactly how you can deliver edits to your designer and what that should look like:
What is the best format for sharing edits with a web designer?
Well this is a GREAT question that I personally feel not enough people are asking. If you feel like your web designer hasn’t provided a document or specific method for collecting feedback in regards to your design, go ahead and send them an email and ask the best way to do it. For example, some designers appreciate a Google Document that lists out all edits in one place. They may prefer the connectivity of the Google doc and how all decision makers on your team can provide feedback in a streamlined place. In my business, I prefer to collect feedback page by page from my clients which is collected in the same file where I share their mockup. As they view each page of their website, there is a form directly below that gives them the option to share their edits right then and there. This keeps edits organized by each page and at the end, if there are any comments that are more general or that they may have forgotten to include, I leave a large space for free writing.
Is there a “best practice” for how to explain edits to a web designer?
In general, the more detailed you can be with the edits you write out, the better. While this will vary from designer to designer, most people who are creating something for others like to “get it right” and make sure their clients are happy with the final result. Being concise about your edits can help this part of the process along.
Examples of well written edits:
On the home page, the use of the color blue feels overwhelming and we’d like to see another color from the palette instead.
The banner image is not eye catching enough - could we try to switch to a video instead?
There aren’t enough images on our about page, how can we add more to the design of this page?
Compared to edits that aren’t so well written which may be tempting to send to your designer, but will get you nowhere and cause more questions:
The colors are too dark
We don’t like the banner image
Change the team page layout to something else
The more detailed you can get with your edits, the better for your designer. This will eliminate the need for unrelenting back and forth trying to gain clarity around what it is that you’re truly looking for. The more your designer has to come to you to clarify what you meant and continue to ask you what you actually want, the more time is ticking away! It’s all about being efficient and essentially getting to the point.
When should I tell my designer about edits?
As soon as you know you don’t like a part of the design they’ve presented, tell them. You want to avoid telling a designer at the last moment that you’re not totally happy with something they’ve made for you. This could cause more problems for your project down the road such as the quality of the design not being up to the designer’s standards, throwing off other aspects of the design on other pages of your website, and it could negatively impact your project’s timeline if your designer has to go back and undo things they believed were previously approved. If they send you a mockup and you’re not really in love with the design of it, don’t be afraid to be honest and provide constructive feedback on how you’d like to see it improved. At the end of the day, we as designers want to see our clients projects turn out well and we want to see our clients happy. We also want projects to always reflect our capabilities as professionals which may require a bit of perfecting after editing - that’s okay! But help us help you.
I’m scared to tell my designer that I don’t like the website, what should I do?
First, don’t be scared. If you are investing in a website, it’s important to get what you want. Yes, it’s expected that you’ll trust the professional to help you execute the design you’re looking for, but it’s also incredibly important that you like it. If your designer presents a design direction that is TOTALLY off from what you were expecting - speak up. You can do a few really helpful things to help them get closer to what your desired outcome is by:
Sharing links to websites that match your aesthetic or industry
Explain what you do and don’t like about the design they presented to you
Use a vision board for your project that matches your style/vibe. You can create this in a place like Pinterest for easy access.
Even though it may feel scary to have to be honest with your web designer about what you like and don’t like about the design they’ve shown you, you have to be honest in order to get closer to your result. If you want to see an accurate reflection of what you’re looking for, be specific. Trust me, we DO care and we DO want to know what you like. Each client and each project is different from one to the next. We understand we may not get it right on the first try every time, and having a bit of guidance around what you’re really looking for helps us achieve the results you’re truly expecting. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.
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