4 tips for a good collaboration with your web designer
You need a new website and decide to work with a web designer. So far so good, but what you get from your web designer depends on how well you communicate with your web designer and let them know what you expect and what you need.
To get the best work from your web designer, you need to think carefully about what you want and how to talk to your web designer about it so that they understand your goal. What you need may be a website or just a redesign of an existing site, but your web designer will need more information. So here are 4 tips on how to best communicate with your web designer and achieve a good working relationship.
1 What do you really need?
To clearly and accurately communicate what you really need, you need to think about what you want and expect from your website.
What we as web designers need to know at this point is who, what and why:
Who is the website for? Describe your target group.
What is the purpose of the website? Is it an online store, a portal or a simple website?
Why should your visitors want to visit your website? What makes this website unique?
As far as the design and look of the website is concerned, the easiest way is to list a few examples of other websites that you like. This doesn't mean that we copy the design of the site, but you could tell us why you like a particular design. Pay particular attention to the functionality of the websites you like and why.
This information helps immensely to understand what you are looking for.
2 Agree clear outcomes and timelines
It helps with communication with your web designer and the development process of the project if you agree clear deliverables and timelines for the creation of your website with your web designer.
Design: does the design phase include a wireframe, a draft as a PDF file, a working prototype that you can already see in the web browser, or both? How many drafts will you receive? How many revisions are included in the price?
Text content: do you have to provide the text for the page or does the web designer do it for you? When does the text for the page have to be available? What does it cost if the web designer writes the text content for you?
Graphics and images: who creates the graphics or photos? Which formats are recommended, e.g. PNG, JPEG or Vector? How many images are required? What resolution should the photos have?
Technology: what does the development of the site involve, e.g. HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP programming? Is a website builder and template used? What kind of content management system is used?
Browser testing: on which browser versions is the website tested? On which operating systems, e.g. Windows or Mac? What about testing on iPhone, Android, smartphone and tablet? What do these tests include, user-friendliness, appearance, loading speed and other technical evaluations? Does the website look the same in all browsers and platforms? Is the website responsive and adapts to all platforms?
SEO / Marketing: does the offer for the website also include search engine optimization? What does search engine optimization include - keyword search, optimized title and alt text for images or meta information in HTML?
3 Track the progress of your website and stay involved
One of the best ways to maintain a good relationship with your web designer is to be involved at every stage of the project and see the project as a team effort.
Results and deadlines can suffer if you start a project and then disappear until shortly before the planned launch of the website. Similarly, it's not good for a web designer to hide while you're working on your website and only ask for your opinion shortly before completion.
If both sides wait too long to check the work, a few important requirements can be overlooked. It is much better to see errors or problems when they occur than when the web designer has already invested too much of their precious time. It could lead not only to extra costs, but also to disagreements and frustration on both sides. Ultimately, the quality of the website suffers if the relationship between client and web designer is not maintained during the project.
So stay involved at every stage of the project, from reviewing the initial designs and wireframes to evaluating the prototype and participating in the testing of your new website. The last point in particular is very important. Your knowledge of your target audience is very valuable when it comes to testing usability and how your customers navigate the website.
4 Trust your web designer
It may be difficult, but it's necessary, you need to give up control of the design process. That doesn't mean you can't get what you want or that you can't give feedback, just that micromanaging the design process is not a good idea. You hire a web designer because you value his or her experience and skills. So trust us to take your initial instructions and turn them into something that works.
While it is important for designers to be open to constructive credit, it is also important for you to understand that it is the designer's role to approach the project with their experience from the user's perspective and pursue the best solutions.
Conclusion
Once you have found the right web designer, a good working relationship with your web designer is very important for the success of your project. Make sure all expectations are clear, you provide the information and content needed and stay involved throughout the process.
Also make sure you have a good contract that covers all the details and contingencies of the collaboration. It is always better to be on the safe side and it gives you the peace of mind to focus on constructive collaboration.
More importantly, trust that you have found the right web designer and allow them to use their skills without constantly controlling them or forcing them to do something that probably won't work later. By staying in good contact, you can spot problems or errors quickly and keep an eye on your schedule and costs.
