How To Give Great Web Design Feedback

Giving web design feedback to your web designer is crucial. Get it wrong and they won’t know what you’re asking for. Get it right, and you’ll be collaborating on a design that ticks all of your boxes.

Feedback on web design plays a crucial part in moving from initial concepts through to the finished website. In the worst case scenario, feedback will involve endless email flying back and forth.

You don’t want that, and neither does your web design agency, so this article sets out how to deliver feedback for designers in the most effective manner.

A few simple steps

First things first – gather your web design feedback together. If you don’t work in design then giving design feedback is going to be outside your comfort zone.

You can simplify things by creating a Feedback Template. A set template with defined categories will help you to gather your thoughts. Sections on the template should include:

• Strengths of the design
• Areas which could be improved
• Questions
• Suggestions
• Issues with UX
• Issues with UI

Test and test again

While it’s your website, you’re opinion isn’t the only one that matters. Find out how the design impacts people using the site by getting them to test it. You can gather data on usability and include it when giving design feedback.

Consult your team

Gather as many opinions on the design as you can. Bring your team together for regular sessions, encouraging them to give honest feedback. Note the comments and work them into your feedback template.

Use tools

Make use of online tools to pull your web design feedback together. Examples of platforms which help with collaboration and feedback include:

• InVision
• Zeplin
• UserTesting

Factors to consider

In simple terms web design feedback deals with two factors – the look of the site and how it works. Streamline your feedback by asking yourself the following questions:

• Do factors like the typography, imagery, colour scheme and layout deliver an appealing first impression?
• Do these factors align with your wider branding?
• Does the navigation of the site work in an intuitive manner?
• How easy is it for a visitor to the site to find what they’re looking for?
• Does the web design work equally well on a range of devices with different screen sizes?
• How long does it take for the pages of the site to load?
• How accessible is the design?

The answers to these questions will inform your web design feedback. By using specific examples (i.e. the homepage is taking too long to load) you’ll be able to convey exactly what you’re looking for. The more exact the feedback is the more useful the designer will find it.

Boil it down

Once you’ve worked with your team and carried out user testing to gather feedback, summarise everything. Structure your feedback using bullet points and short statements rather than long, complex paragraphs. That way the feedback will be easier to take on board and act upon.

It’s the design, not the designer

When delivering feedback for designers, take care to focus on the design, and not the designer. Language like ‘This has been badly designed’ or ‘Don’t take this personally, but the homepage looks awful’ will create conflict and make it more difficult to collaborate on making improvements.

Instead, deliver feedback by saying things like ‘The bright yellow text over the white background seems a little hard to read. Could we change the colour scheme for the next design?’

Any issues with the web design could be down to a poor initial brief, after all, and a successful final design is far more likely if you maintain an honest but positive relationship.

Giving design feedback in short

Web design feedback is a vital part of any successful collaboration. Use a template to organise the feedback you gather, consult a range of other opinions, and keep any criticism focused on the design, not the designer.

Ask yourself the key questions about successful design and see how the design you’ve been given answers those questions, then pass that on to the web designer.

In even shorter

Gather the data, organise it and communicate clearly.