How to give requirements to a designer without pissing them off

Getting a website designed is pretty important for your business-everyone knows that, but if you can’t provide a proper specification for your designers then you’re going to get a shitty design.

It doesn’t matter what designer you’re working with. Even if your designer is an all-star they are going to have a hard time making something awesome for you when your requirements are tucked away in your brain. Here’s how to do it the right way:

1. Outline your goals.

For every page you want designed, state your goals. What is the purpose of this page? Are you trying to attract customers with a value proposition or are you trying to showcase functionality? Are you trying to direct new traffic to your pricing page or are you trying to inform your existing customers?

2. Show examples of sites you like.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and don’t expect your designer to do that either. Instead, your designer is going to look for inspiration from other designs. If you provide several examples of pages that you like and explain why you like their design and what about it you like, then it guides your designer to choose the right inspiration for your own design.

3. Provide minor details

Every page has its own caveats. You’re going to want a particular image somewhere, or some text to be more emphasized. Here’s where you write all that out. Do it in bullet form-don’t write your designer an essay. Also, don’t be too specific.

Following this process lets your designer stay creative and use their own judgement for everything around the content and still meet your goals and expectations. It’s a win-win – nobody gets pissed off you get a much better design 🙂

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