How to work with a web designer
Sure, there may be a lot of articles on how to choose a web designer and that may seem trivial as well. But how do you work with the web designer to get what you want as quickly as possible? Let’s see.
Define what exactly you want
First of all, you need to define what you want for yourself. Do you just want to redesign the site, because its old? Do you have some conversion goals in mind? Spend some time thinking about it and writing this down.
Secondly, you need to translate your wishes to the website. Do you want to change the underlying structure? Or you just want to site look a bit more pretty? If so, what are the exact elements that you want to improve and how exactly should they look?
Tell this to the designer
Well, you have determined what you want to do with the site. But does your designer know that? You need to tell what you want to get with the site to the designer. That’s why you needed to translate your wishes to site changes, so that the designer had specific information to base his work on.
Sure, that may seem a lot to ask. But the more detailed your future site description is, the easier it will be for the web designer to work. Here is an example:
“I want to improve my site conversions. To do that, I need you to create a new graphical layout - only necessary to convey the information about the product. I want it to inspire confidence in the site visitors to buy and use the product.
I want to show the maximum possible amount of information on my homepage. Can you structure my homepage so that it has the most important information shown on it?
I’ll be adding a “Benefits” section to my site. Is there anything else that you’d advise to add to the site?
What I specifically want are related pages to the visited one, shown on the right. The number of pages should be three or less.
The banner text should be small enough to fit a single line at the 1024*800 resolution.
The site should display correctly at 800*600, 1024*800 and 1280*1024 resolutions.”
Though the example above is not that precise, it is a good start to develop a good site specification.
The best way to think of is if the designer himself will ask you a set of questions or ask the designer to do so. This will help not only to define the future website, but will make the work easier.
What to expect?
There, you have told the designer what you want. But what to expect? Will the work be the same as you imagined before even looking for a web designer?
The thing is that whatever you told the designer, will be done. But what you haven’t, it will be done according to the designer’s skill, knowledge and choice.
So please, if you haven’t specified something, don’t expect it to look like you wanted - because you didn’t tell this to the designer.
Receiving the site
After a month or two, your designer presents you with a web site template for approval. What to do?
First of all, check that the site works on the abovementioned resolutions. This means that it doesn’t fall apart and displays obviously incorrectly, like some blocks disappearing from the view or text being not formatted properly.
Secondly, make sure the text is readable, the navigation is easy to identify and use.
Thirdly, make sure all your requirements were met.
And lastly, see if you want to change anything in the template. This is the last moment you can make changes to it with the help of the web designer (unless you hire him later again, of course).
Commenting on the template
If you just want to change something, tell this to the designer. If this doesn’t require reworking the template, it probably can be done without additional payment.
But if you want to change your previously agreed requirements or add something else to the site, prepare to pay. Why? Because that’s additional work for the designer.
Be prepared to word your wishes as precisely as possible again. Re-read the expectations paragraph again, if you need to.
The final
Alright, after some changes (or without), you have accepted the template. What to do next?
Don’t forget to pay the web designer, if you didn’t pay 100% up front.
Write a letter, thanking your web designer for your work. And also write a testimonial about your designer’s skill, knowledge and approach to your site. Be as specific as possible, such as:
“Thank you for your excellent work. You created something even better than I imagined.
And here is a testimonial for your site:
‘John provided excellent assistance with my site from the very start to finish. He was very attentive to details and delivered what I wanted him to. I am very grateful for his efforts. If you are seeking for a web designer, try John.’ ”
If possible, send an e-mail in a month or two about how your conversions increased (if they did).
Trust me, a web designer will appreciate your efforts to write the letter and will probably do more work for you later (if you need it) and it’ll be even more quality.
P.S. When you have finished working with the designer, write down what you needed to tell the designer throughout the whole process. This will help you define your requirements for future redesigns.
Related posts:
- How do you choose your web designer?
- Designing easy to edit websites
- What is a liquid (fluid) web site design