Hiring a web designer can be a challenging prospect: after all, they will play a huge role in shaping the face of your company online. As someone who has spent years working in UI/UX design, I’ve seen my fair share of warning signs. Here are five of my top web designer red flags to look out for in your hiring process.
Table of Contents
- 1. Prioritizing Aesthetics Over Usability
- 2. Lack of User Research
- 3. Ignoring Feedback
- 4. Inconsistent Designs
- 5. Overpromising and Under Delivering
1. Prioritizing Aesthetics Over Usability
One of the biggest red flags is when a designer wants to make a site look pretty without making it usable. Sure, you can create a beautiful website, but if users can’t figure out how to use it, what’s the point? A designer who cares about the user should have a foot in both camps. Your site should be easy to use and pretty to look at.
For business sites, the ability of a site to convert visitors to customers is also paramount. If a designer doesn’t focus on the conversion part of the puzzle, the resulting site might score high on the aesthetics scale but otherwise fail in its business goal. The point of a great design is to attract visitors to the website, but it is also to persuade them to do something helpful, such as joining the mailing list or filling out a contact form. If the designer doesn’t talk to you about a conversion strategy, that’s a serious warning.
2. Lack of Curiosity
Here’s a big red flag: a designer who doesn’t ask questions about your business or about your audience. If they’re not digging deep in understanding what you’re trying to accomplish and who you’re trying to reach, they’re pretty much dart-throwing. A good designer should do user research to understand who your audience is, the problem(s) they’re trying to solve, and what they expect from a solution. Again, the goal in any redesign should be to create a site that solves the user’s needs, not just a nice look. If a designer or agency doesn’t seem interested in understanding your business and your customers, walk away!
3. Ignoring Feedback
Good designers learn not to take feedback personally. If you are working with a defensive designer who can’t or won’t make changes based on the feedback you provide, run for the hills. A good designer should be able to iterate based on your input. This can be hard to tease out during initial meetings, but a designer that seems overconfident in their own methods and skills is a red flag. Again, look for someone who asks lots of questions and seems to have a sense of humility and an oppenness to others’ ideas.
4. Inconsistent Designs
Inconsistent designs can confuse users and create a disjointed experience. Take a careful look at a designer’s portfolio. If the projects are a mishmash of colors, fonts, or layouts, it’s a sign of a lack of attention to detail. A good designer should maintain consistency across all pages and sections, ensuring a seamless user experience.
For example, at Electromagnetic Web we create variables for things like text styles, colors, spacing, and buttons that can be used consistently throughout a site. It also makes maintenance much easier; if we change the font size variable, the size of all text using that variable changes everywhere on the site.
If, on the other hand, the designer just “wings it,” the whole site winds up feeling disjointed and “off.” Look closely. If you see that a designer’s portfolio is riddled with inconsistencies, you might be looking at a red flag.
5. Overpromising and Under Delivering
Lastly, steer clear of designers who offer overly optimistic turnaround times. UI/UX design necessitates research, revision, and refinement, which is why a designer who promises to throw together a beautiful site in a few days is simply not being realistic.
It’s also up to you as the client to set a realistic schedule. You are more likely to get a quality design if you allocate sufficient time.
Avoid These Web Designer Red Flags
Being aware of these web designer red flags can save you time, money, and a whole lot of heartache. Remember, a good design is not just about how a site looks but how it performs.
If you want to learn more about website design or maintenance, check out our other resources, like this guide on WordPress maintenance or this post about small business website design elements.