3 Major Reasons why you should trust your designer when asking for a website.

One of the biggest issues that designers face every day is the client not trusting them. Design decisions get overruled at every turn, bizarre revisions are made and for all intents and purposes the client essentially designs the website themselves with the designer being used as nothing more than a tool to accomplish an ugly design.

I’m not saying a client should have no input but there needs to be a little trust that we know what we are doing. Here are 3 major reasons why you should trust your designer.

1. We have the knowledge

9 times out of 10 the client is not their company’s demographic

My work in design has taken me through many industries. I have worked for the kitchen Industry, couriers, mechanics, charities, martial arts, Insurance, Social Media, Food, Farm-shops, Printers… The list goes on and on and I’m sure every designer out there can boast the same.

Working in lots of different industries means we need to know what each demographic likes. While there is the common adage of “Jack of all trades master of none” it does not apply here. A designer has to delve deep in each industry and fully immerse themselves to make sure he is designing the right thing for a very specific niche audience, making the perfect website or product to maximise traffic to your website or increase sales through targeted designs. We will also dig deep into your competitors and find out what works well and why and areas they fall short on and how we can exploit that.

What Designers usually find, however, is that the client wants a website that THEY like. The problem with this is that 9 times out of 10 the client is not their company’s demographic, rendering the work and research of the designer useless. Basing a website on your feelings or what you like is a disservice to your product or service and will result in fewer conversions. Trust your designer to find what is right for your company. See below for tips on how to provide feedback if you really don't like the design and want to change it.

2. We have the experience

we know what we are talking about and are using our experience so your company can get the best out of its website.

Designers will produce many hundreds of different websites over their career so we know what makes a user friendly site, what will last a long time and how a website will work responsively. We generally know straight away what will work and what wont, and if the designer is really good, will have SEO in mind from the start to optimise the page. For example: A client may want a full screen video playing as soon as you land on their site. If they have an SEO contract, as a designer, I know that they would be better off having a h1 text above the page-fold so a video would not be advised. While this is a hugely simplified example, the point is you should place your trust in us that we know what we are talking about and are using our experience so your company can get the best out of its website.

3. We have the skill

As a client you must remember you are hiring us not only for a great targeted design but also for a skill with the necessary tools

Designers know how to use the essential tools for designing a website and, more often than not, for building one too. We know how to set up a website to be easily read by a developer, taking into account container widths, doubling for retina sizes, vector icons and illustrations, web optimised imagery, web safe fonts and many more.

I once had a client who eventually decided that they wanted to design the website themselves. They then proceeded to ask me how to set up a photoshop document for web design and were surprised when I charged them for this consultancy service. In the end they decided to set it up themselves and the document came back full of design flaws that produced difficulties for the developer. We then asked them to change the documents. This happened a few times and extended the development time considerably.

As a client you must remember you are hiring us not only for a great targeted design but also for a skill with the necessary tools.

With the above points in mind Here are a few tips on how you can produce a website that pleases all parties:

• At the start of the project, talk to your designer about your industry, who you target and why. Talk about what problem your product or service solves and about the company history and where you came from. While this may be obvious I have had a few clients in the past tell me to get all the information from their old site and I have to find out everything myself.
• When a Designer produces a first draft, take the time to ask why they have designed it like that. How does it target your audience and what do they hope to accomplish with it. Finding out why a design has been made the way it has will help you understand how it will help your company progress.
• If you have feedback, be constructive. I cannot emphasise this point enough. If there is something you do not like, say why and what you would like it changed to. If you know what you like, try and provide examples. Terms such as “Jazz it up a bit”, “I’ll know what I want when I see it” or “make it pop” will not cut it with a designer. We cannot base a design on someone’s feelings. I once redesigned an entire site because they said they didn’t like anything about it. After I completely changed the design they said they only wanted one colour change not a complete redesign. Constructive feedback will help minimise this confusions and speed up the design process.
• Try and visualise Animations. When I design a website I generally have in mind how some sections will be animated and will always try and explain this to the client. Whilst a static page may look boring, some animations will really bring it to life. Try and visualise the animations as best as you can and ask if the designer has any examples they can send over. If you still cant imagine it, trust your designer is doing everything they can to make your website look as good as it possibly can.

Like what you read, or feel like I have missed something? Let me know in the comments below.