How to review a website design with a clear brief

Describe the intended visitor

Before choosing a font or a photograph, describe who the page is for and what they need from it. A portfolio visitor may want to judge the quality of the work quickly. A visitor to a local service business may want to confirm the area served, availability and contact method. The same layout will not serve every purpose equally well.

Separate content questions from visual questions

First ask whether the right information is present. Then ask whether the design presents it clearly. If a page does not explain the service, changing its colours will not resolve the problem. If the information is useful but difficult to scan, hierarchy and spacing may be the right place to work.

Point to a specific moment on the page

Feedback becomes useful when it describes something observable. “The mobile headline takes six lines before I can see what you offer” gives a designer a place to start. “It does not feel premium” leaves several interpretations open. Name the element, explain the effect and describe what you need the visitor to understand.

Use references with a reason

A reference is most useful when you can explain what you want to learn from it. Perhaps the photography is consistent, the navigation stays out of the way or the product information is especially readable. Identify that quality. Borrowing a whole page without understanding its purpose can bring along decisions that do not fit your own business.

Check an edit in the whole page

A change can improve one section while weakening the next. A larger headline may make the first screen stronger but push the main action out of view. Review the page again after meaningful changes, at both large and small widths. Keep the original purpose of the page close enough that visual preferences do not replace it.

Know what a demonstration proves

A template demonstrates a possible visual direction and structure. It does not prove that the businesses, testimonials or performance figures shown in a sample are real. When presenting design studies, label them clearly. When adapting one for a real organisation, replace illustrative content with that organisation’s own information.

My point of view

I’m Sal Talash, founder of UOVA. I care about the quality of a finished page and the clarity of the decisions behind it. Good feedback makes the next edit easier to understand and gives the person doing the work a concrete way to improve it.