This is Part 2 of the website design: Interpersonal Qualities of a good web designer. In Part 1, I highlighted the following qualities your website designer must have:
1. Website Designer or a graphic designer
2. Does my website designer understand my business
3. Lateral thinking is the key.
In addition to the above mentioned skills, it is significant that the following characteristics are also evident in your website developer:
A. Do you believe in relationships: You will have a long-term relationship with your website developer. Thus, it is very essential that your website designer believes in forming long-term relationships with the client. As your business grow and your website becomes popular, you will want to add new characteristics to your website and it could be very costly if you cannot get the original website developer who built your site to update it for you. That’s why it is significant to make sure that you can work with your web designer for the long-term.
B. Examples of website designs: The first thing I do when I meet a new client is to show them examples of my previous work. This not only shows our website design skills but also tells the customer that we are proud of our work and they are dealing with a web development firm that has experience and skills to fulfill their web design needs. This is probably the most important. If the web designer you are dealing with doesn’t have any work to show you, or they cannot produce a few websites they have done entirely themselves, you must be careful in dealing with them. What do their website development portfolio tells you. Are the web designs clean and professional? Are the websites easy to navigate?
C. Give me some references: Some people might ask about the validity of this point (as they may say that their needs are totally different to other businesses). The reason you must always talk to the previous clients of the website design firm you are dealing with is to make sure that you are getting what you have been promised. Talking to previous clients will tell you about their experiences. Some questions you must ask the past clients of the website development firm you are dealing with are:
i. how is the communication skills of the web designer?
ii. Was the website development course easy for them?
iii. Did they get the right support and guidance from the website development firm?
iv. Was the website delivered on time?
v. Were clients involved in every stage of the website design process? This is important to make sure that the product is what you need for your business.
vi. Did they receive good service from the website design firm?