The job of a web designer is tough, and sometimes when you are the customer it becomes even tougher. Certain qualities that you should look in a professional web designer include:
Customer-Centric
Occasionally, it happens that web designers or the IT experts don’t have the kind of friendliness that is needed to run projects smoothly. They may lack the skills needed to satisfy a customer at all levels. They may be terse and don’t convey things properly. Or keep important information concealed, and shy away from discussing issues at length. The web designer you are hiring should understand what your real needs are and design accordingly for a 100% satisfactory deliverance of service.
Ability to Design Well Functioning Sites
Not only the aesthetics but the sites designed by an expert must function well, otherwise they’ll be of no use to you and the audience you look to target. Occasionally, designers emphasize on design (looks of a website) more and don’t give value to how quickly the site loads. It can turn out to be a major drawback of your site after it goes live. An error-filled, chaotic code is hard to mend at a later stage. A web designer needs to concentrate heavily on the function part of the design rather than looks.
Usability is the Vital Factor
Usability is the crucial element for the long-term success of your online business. See that the person you hire knows about Jakob Nielson’s principles of usability—the usability standards that stand on the foundations of solid research. In order to hold visitors on your website and make them repeat the action again and again, you should keep the usability factor in mind when designing your website.
Knowledge of the Industry
Familiarity with your industry is the key — a skill that your web designer should have. Specific industries have particular needs that need to be explicitly incorporated into the design. A website on insurance, for example, need to have a custom-built privacy page for the users. Also particular industries have special designing needs that have to be take care of. A website built for a coffee shop would not be frowned upon if it has a casual design, but a similar kind of design would not work for a law firm.
Involvement of the Client
Your involvement at every single stage of the design process is crucial to achieve what you are looking for. Some designers have the bad habit of excluding their clients from projects. There are certain cases when a design element is liked by the designer but the client is averse to it or has no use for it — the outcome of which is a clash of opinions. Pick web designers that communicate with you to know your ideas or what you want to be done on your site.
Communication Skills Matter…a Lot
Although a rare trait in a web designer having up to par communication skills makes a lot of difference to the final results. If your designer has adequate communication skills it facilitates easy flow of ideas to and fro between you and him. Engage with old clients of your designer to get an idea about his communication skills.
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