6 Questions to Ask Clients for More Productive Web Design Feedback

In a perfect world, every client would give effective feedback as soon as you request it. But in reality, client feedback can be vague, irrelevant, and completely unhelpful. If you want to get more productive web design feedback, your agency must steer clients in the right direction by asking them the right questions.

In this blog post, we’ll provide six questions to ask clients for feedback that won’t leave you wanting more. We’ll also explain why each of these questions work, so you can brainstorm more questions of your own.

1. How do you feel about [design element]?

The questions you ask must reflect the web design feedback you want to get. When you pinpoint a specific design element that you want your clients to review, they’ll provide specific feedback in return. Specificity eliminates the vague responses you’d get with general questions like, “What do you think about the site?”

When clients review one small area of your web design, like your navigation bar or homepage layout, they’ll also provide more thorough feedback, too. Clients will only spend so much time giving you feedback each time you ask, so you’ll get comparatively more information if you break up your requests.

2. Why do you feel that way?

“Why?” is a powerful question. When you’re struggling to get valuable feedback for website designs, asking why is often the best way to get clients to elaborate. If a client’s answer is vague, this question makes them consider why they initially reacted to your design a certain way. This way, you can get the context you need to better understand your client’s vision.

Adding the word “feel” can also encourage your clients to get more introspective in their follow-up response. Plus, the term can make your question sound more empathetic, rather than defensive.

3. What did you specifically like about [design element]?

If your clients still aren’t effectively communicating their opinions, don’t be afraid to ask this leading question. While you don’t want to fully influence their web design feedback, giving them an opinion to start with — the idea that they like something about a given design element — can help them organize their thoughts.

This question will help clients focus not only on a specific design element, but also on the positives.

4. What do you still feel is missing?

If you’re asking a leading question that inspires a positive response, it’s also a good idea to see if a client is unhappy with any part of your design. Give them a chance to consider whether or not your website design feels complete, or if changes are needed.

Take note of the fact that this question asks what is missing, rather than if something is missing. Avoiding closed yes-no questions is the best way to prevent one-word answers from clients. If clients truly don’t feel something is missing, they can still say so. But this question will encourage them to give their answer a bit more thought.

5. If your site goal is to ____, do you feel this design helps you achieve that?

Great feedback for web design is often goal-oriented. Asking your clients if they liked a design is a great way to keep customers happy, but you want to ensure the website you create is effective, too. This question helps clients shape their feedback based on the results they expect your design to bring.

Be open to finding a middle ground between clients’ preferences and what you know works, as an expert. In addition, don’t be afraid to explain why you made a certain design decision, so clients have more context when giving you feedback.

6. Do you think this website would appeal to your ideal customers?

Some of the best questions to ask clients for feedback are those that encourage them to step into the shoes of the end user. Often, clients will express their own opinions without considering the most important perspective: that of their customers. This question can add clarity to their web design feedback.

When asking this question, don’t forget to follow up with a “why” if clients still aren’t giving you the answers you need. You want to get a full understanding of who their target audience is. After all, your clients should know them better than anyone.

Know the Right Questions to Ask Clients for Feedback

Getting productive feedback for website designs is all about providing the right guidance. The best questions to ask clients for feedback aren’t close-ended or unspecific questions, but rather, they’re those that inspire more thoughtful responses. Ask about specific design elements and don’t be afraid to follow up with, “Why?”

When you’re ready to collect feedback for website designs, SimpleStage can help you do so with ease. Our design feedback tools allow you to quickly upload designs for clients to review and respond to with visual annotations.